


To Reach the Top

by Amaradex



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, M/M, Mentions of past canon relationships, Mentions of past non-canon relationships, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2012-08-10
Packaged: 2017-11-11 21:06:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 27,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaradex/pseuds/Amaradex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U fic (after 3x15 "Big Brother) inspired by the Finn/Puck conversation in said episode.</p><p>After seven years in New York, Kurt isn't succeeding the way he expected too. Jesse and Rachel moving in together prompts him to move back to Lima to consider his options without throwing money down the drain just to stay living in New York. When Finn finds out, he gets Puck to come up with a way to get Kurt to L.A. and involved in their surprisingly successful pool maintenance business. Along the way, Kurt will get the break he needs to get into the business, reconnect with some old friends and find some of what he's always felt like he was missing. </p><p>Part of the Kurt OT3 Bang (http://kurt-ot3bang.livejournal.com/)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graphics are by the wonderful [raving_liberal](http://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal) whose fic you should totally also read.
> 
> Many thanks to my fantastic beta [April](http://apesy.livejournal.com/), who managed to catch all my awkward turns of phrase and helped me add a bit to the storyline.

Kurt was seven years and five boyfriends into living in New York before he admitted to himself that his life wasn’t going the way he’d planned.  He’d known since the West Side Story debacle in high school that finding a Broadway show that needed (or would even consider) a gay countertenor male lead was unlikely.  Still, he’d thought that he would be able to find smaller roles where he would fit in, get enough exposure to make directors notice him, and then have a part written for him.  He’d even been willing to write that part himself if need be, so long as he was able to get up on stage and into the spotlight.

What he hadn’t been prepared for was the complete lack of interest in him.  He’d been out of school for three years now and despite the hundreds of auditions he’d gone to, he still hadn’t had even a single call-back, never mind been given a part.  The only thing that kept him going was his high school dream of getting up on stage at the Gershwin Theater and singing for a packed crowd, and even that was beginning to wear thin.

On his worst days, he had to remind himself that he was at least doing better than Jesse St. James.  The other man had wandered back into Rachel’s life (and, by extension, Kurt’s) about four and a half years ago and it had taken him almost four months to confess that he was working as a bike messenger, still having no luck finding any kind of singing work.  Kurt himself was now working as a singing telegram and he was popular enough (admittedly, mostly amongst gay couples) to be bringing home a steady, reasonable pay check.  Rachel’s bit parts in shows were becoming both bigger and more frequent, so between the two of them they were able to afford a small place in Long Island City.

Rachel was starting to make noise about moving in with Jesse (or him moving in with them) and Kurt had to force himself to face reality.  He was getting nowhere sticking around New York and the money he was making at his job (decent, considering what he was doing) was flowing out of his bank account just as quickly because of the cost of living in the city.  He couldn’t stand the idea of living with Rachel and Jesse – that would just be way too much diva in too small a space – but he couldn’t afford to move out on his own.  He had a few friends close enough to consider moving in with, but most of them were in serious relationships of their own and the others were flighty enough that he didn’t think he could count on them as roommates.

In the end, the decision was obvious, if not easy.  He needed to reconsider his plans for the future and he needed to start saving up money in order to make them happen once he settled on what he wanted.  He couldn’t do that while still living in New York, especially not without someone to split the exorbitant rent with.  He only had one real option – moving home and working at his dad’s shop until he knew what he wanted to do and had the money to do it.  Burt could always use another hand, especially as he was still working on his political career.

Kurt didn’t tell Rachel about his decision to move back to Lima until after she and Jesse had signed the lease on a cozy little one bedroom place a few blocks from their current apartment.  Despite her tendency to be overly self-involved, Rachel was still a good friend and he knew she would have put off her dream of living with Jesse just to make sure that Kurt could stay in New York.  She’d still tried to protest his leaving, offering to set him up with some of her friends that were looking for new roommates.  In the end, though, she just hugged him with tears in her eyes and told him that he’d always be welcome with her and Jesse, even if he had to sleep on their couch.  He thanked her with honest gratitude, though he knew he would never take her up on her offer for anything more than a brief visit.  His love-affair with New York was over and he wasn’t keen to start it up again.

He boarded the train to Columbus with his head held high, ignoring the leaden weight of his heart.  Waving his goodbyes to Rachel and Jesse as he pulled away from the station, he promised himself that he wouldn’t get stuck in Lima.  Staying there for a while to sort things out was fine, but he wasn’t about to stick around for the rest of his life.


	2. Chapter 1

“Hummel Tire and Lube,” Kurt said into the phone, carefully keeping his boredom out of his tone.  “How can I help you today?”  He hated this part of his job and was grateful that he only had to do it one or two evenings a week.  He’d made sure that he kept his certifications current while he was in New York, figuring that having the option of working in a garage to make his rent was good.  It was keeping him sane now, letting him spend as much time with his hands on and in cars as he did making sure the shop’s records were up-to-date and correct or playing receptionist.  The usual receptionist only worked days and having Kurt there meant that the shop could stay open a couple of nights a week.  The increase in service was bringing in a good deal of business, so Kurt sucked up the fact that he hated having to do virtually nothing and put a smile on his face and in his voice whenever a customer came in or called.

“Kurt?  Is that you, dude?”  Finn’s voice was immediately recognizable, despite the fact that Kurt hadn’t seen his step-brother for almost two years.  Finn had headed west to California with Puck the fall after they’d graduated high school, leaving Rachel and his family behind with seemingly no regrets.  The tension caused by the break-up meant that Kurt had really only e-mailed Finn while he was living with Rachel.  They’d seen each other a few times when they were both back in Lima for holidays, but the distance and time had weakened the brotherly relationship they’d been building.  Kurt hadn’t even told Finn he was moving back to Lima, figuring that Carole would pass it along when she made her weekly phone call.

“Hey Finn,” he said, trying to force himself to not sound embarrassed.  “How are you doing?  How’s L.A.?”  He winced at himself, knowing that he wasn’t doing anything to stop Finn from asking the painful questions that had to be in his mind.

“Oh, it’s good.  You know, hot and all, which kind of sucks, but other than that, it’s cool.  How are you?”  Kurt winced again.

“I’m OK.  Just helping Dad out while I’m in town.”  Good enough response, he supposed.  It didn’t sound like an admission of failure, at least.

“Cool,” Finn said, and Kurt could tell his mind was elsewhere.  “I’m actually looking for Burt.  I tried calling the house but nobody picked up.”

“I think he and Carole are at some political thing.  Have you tried his cellphone?”  If he was busy, Burt would have his ringer off, so there was no chance of Finn disturbing him.

“Figured I’d call here first.  It’s no big deal, I can call tomorrow night instead.”  There was a long moment of silence on the other end of the line and Kurt held his breath, hoping that Finn would be smart enough not to start asking questions.

“Hey, are you going to see him tonight?”  It was a question, but not one of the ones Kurt had been dreading.  He let out a breath in a half-sigh.

“Yeah, I should if he’s not home too late.  Want me to pass along a message?”

“Yeah, dude.  Can you tell him and my mom that me and Puck finally managed to get some time off so we’ll be down there in two weeks?  Also ask if we can put Puck up for the week.  His mom doesn’t have the space for him anymore and it would kind of suck for him to get stuck in a hotel when we’ve got a spare room.”

“Sure, no problem,” Kurt said, all the while cursing Finn in his mind.  He didn’t want to even have to face Finn and admit that he’d failed in New York, never mind Puck.  The two of them had somehow managed to make their two-man operation into a successful (if small) pool cleaning business in L.A.  Kurt wasn’t sure if they’d used charm, sex or just pure luck, but the fact remained that they’d done well for themselves in California while he’d ended up back in Lima, working at his dad’s shop.

“You think you’ll still be around when we visit?  It’d be nice to catch up.”  Finn sounded so genuinely hopeful that Kurt couldn’t help but smile, even as his gut tied itself into even more knots.

“I’ll be around,” he managed to say around the lump in his throat.  “Wouldn’t want to miss you guys coming down, after all.”  Finn laughed at that, clearly remembering some of the previous times they’d both been home.

“Sweet, dude.  See you in a couple weeks, I guess.  And thanks for passing the message along.”  With a brief goodbye, Kurt hung up the phone then dropped his head into his hands with a resigned sigh.


	3. Chapter 2

Puck had known that moving his pool cleaning business to L.A. was a long shot, but he had decided that he wasn’t going to be a Lima loser, no matter what Quinn said, and getting out of Ohio meant taking chances.  He still wasn’t sure what had made Finn join him – his initial pitch had been good, but not good enough to pull him away from Rachel when they were planning to get married.  Finn had refused to talk about what made him change his mind when he came to Puck and agreed to move to California, and Puck respected his friend too much to pry.

They’d spent the summer after they graduated working both the pool cleaning business and second jobs to save up every penny they could.  Finn had taken every shift at Burt’s garage that was available, learning all the ins and outs of motors and engines while he was getting paid to do so.  Puck had settled for working at the Dairy Queen, reasoning that the pay wasn’t bad and that he’d at least be getting some experience in customer service.  The manager/owner was glad to get someone who wanted to work evenings and weekends over weekdays and happily talked about the good and the bad of owning a franchise business while Puck listened intently and made mental notes of things to avoid and to do once they made it out to California.

The trip itself was almost anti-climactic, just five days of driving, switching it up with Finn every once in a while, sleeping in cheap motels and eating in greasy diners.  They’d kept Finn’s truck because it was in better condition, and Puck had used some of the money he got from selling his to buy a small covered trailer.  All their crap was in the trailer, the back of the truck holding the pool cleaning tools and their bikes.  They had enough cash for a few months of rent and a business license, plus the recommendation of a good place to start with their flyers, courtesy of Puck’s second cousin, who was an attorney in L.A.

The first few months were hard – a lot of walking and selling and flyers and not a lot of business.  Puck’s cousin actually got them their first regular client when one of his coworkers mentioned having to fire his pool cleaner because the guy had been screwing his wife.  Puck took the look his cousin gave him along with those words with good grace.  He wasn’t about to let his dick get him into trouble when he’d finally made it out of Ohio, so he steered clear of the lawyer’s wife, focusing entirely on doing a good job with the pool.  Apparently finding a pool boy who wasn’t interested in getting into his wife’s pants was enough for the lawyer to be thrilled, because the next thing Puck knew, he was getting calls from the guy’s buddies, all asking him to clean their pools.

By the time they’d been in L.A. for four months, business was good enough that Puck and Finn were mostly working jobs separately in order to get them all done.  Puck was glad he’d asked his friend along – he might be big and a bit slow, but Finn was a good hard worker and once he figured out how to do something, he’d do it right every time.  He didn’t seem to regret having left Rachel behind, even though he never showed any interest in finding a girl in L.A.  Then again, neither did Puck, though he would argue that it was because he was way too busy with keeping his business moving forward.

It was definitely moving forward: two months later, he hired a third guy so that he and Finn could actually take weekends.  Another three months later, they hired a fourth person, a young college girl who worked 20 hours a week as a receptionist and administrative assistant.  Puck was happy to pass most of the day-to-day operations off to her – she was a math whiz who could handle the books in half the time it took him while still handling customers with a friendly smile.  Julie was apparently the turning point – once she started working for him, their clients doubled every month until Puck found himself handling a dozen employees and a business that was actually giving him a paycheck that covered more than the cost of his rent and food.

Neither he nor Finn took a real vacation in the first two years, just catching days and long weekends here and there.  It was a shock when they finally made the time to head back to Lima and visit their respective families.  Puck’s sister was a teenager now, and was going to be starting high school the next fall.  His Mom had been promoted and, with the move into a smaller place, she had enough to enroll Ruthie in an after-school dance program.  Puck had to smile as he listened to his sister wax enthusiastic about her plans to come live in L.A. with Puck and get a job as a back-up dancer until she could open her own studio.  He didn’t discourage her – if she could hold onto that same dream all the way through high school, she might actually have the stubbornness to make it in L.A.

Visiting Finn and his family had been equally weird.  Because they’d chosen to visit around the time of spring break (when most pools were in use and therefore not free for cleaning), they were able to catch up with Kurt, who was taking a break from his fabulous life in New York to visit his dad.  Though he chattered on about all the wonderful things he was learning in his classes and the joys of living in New York, Puck could see that Kurt wasn’t happy.  He didn’t seem miserable, just like he was trying to convince even himself that New York was everything he’d thought it would be when it wasn’t.

He’d only run into Kurt once more after that, two years ago on their second-to-latest trip back.  The poor guy had seemed even more miserable than before, muttering something about a ‘Jerome’ and taking calls in his bedroom that led to him emerging with red-rimmed eyes.  He hadn’t talked much about himself, instead sharing stories of Rachel’s experiences on stage as she slowly made her way up the Broadway ladder.  It didn’t take a genius to see that New York didn’t love Kurt Hummel even half as much as he loved it.  When Kurt headed back the day before he and Finn were due to leave, Puck gave him a handshake and wished him good luck as honestly as he could.  It earned him a weird look, but he couldn’t help but feel that Kurt needed a lot of luck to keep surviving in a city that was chewing him up.

It didn’t surprise him when Finn told him that Kurt was back at home – he knew he’d seen the end of Kurt’s New York dreams on that visit and he’d have been more surprised to hear that Kurt had actually made it.  Still, he felt bad for the guy and wished he could give him the equivalent of what he and Finn had found in L.A.  Hell, he’d invite him to come live with them if he didn’t know that Kurt Hummel was too proud to accept handouts, especially from his step-brother and his step-brother’s best friend.  Still, the idea of getting Kurt to come to L.A. was an interesting one, and if he could do it so that Kurt felt like he was more than just a charity case, it might just work.


	4. Chapter 3

Finn and Puck were supposed to be flying in on one of the evenings that Kurt usually worked.  He was quick to assure his dad that he could still work the evening, hoping to put off the inevitable questions of what he was doing in Lima.  Burt turned the offer down, insisting that they’d shut the shop in the evening for the week and a bit Finn and Puck were down.  It was characteristically family-minded of him and it made Kurt grind his teeth in frustration.  Still, he was a good son, so he didn’t say anything out loud, just gave his father a weak smile and agreed to come along on the drive to the Columbus airport.

He did manage to get his spirits up in time to receive Finn’s bear hug with equal excitement, if not strength.  He also managed to return Puck’s surprise hug with aplomb, hiding his shock in a show of straightening his clothes and hair that drew laughs from the three other men.  They all piled into the car, Finn riding shotgun because of his height while Puck and Kurt shared the backseat.  The trip back to Lima was filled with their chatter about L.A. and the pool cleaning business.  With every mile that passed under the car’s tires without one of the dreaded questions popping up, Kurt relaxed a bit more.  Maybe Finn had taken his slightly suggestive statements and decided that Kurt was just down for an extended vacation or maybe he and Puck just didn’t care why Kurt was there.  Either way, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Dinner that night was equally loud, with Carole asking most of the questions this time.  She’d clearly missed her son – Finn was barely able to get bites of food into his mouth between questions, while Puck mostly sat there quietly, with occasional interjections.  Kurt could feel Puck’s eyes on him more than he was comfortable with, but he feigned interest in Carole and Finn’s conversation, eating slowly and methodically when he wasn’t smiling and nodding at some story or question.

Kurt escaped to the backyard once dinner was over and the dishwasher was loaded, hoping to avoid listening to more of Carole’s exclamations over her son’s success.  He could readily admit that he was jealous, and he didn’t want to show that, especially seeing as he didn’t begrudge Finn his life so much as he wished that he could have the same.  With the nights starting to cool off from the slow descent into fall, he figured that outside was the best place to go if he didn’t want anyone to follow him.

His presumption proved faulty: he hadn’t been sitting on the back deck for more than ten minutes before he heard the sliding door open and then close behind him.  He ducked his head to hide his expression, listening to the person walk across the deck to drop down onto the stair next to him.

“New York isn’t the only city in the world where you would fit in,” Puck said after a moment.  Kurt jerked his eyes up from the study of his hands, looking wide-eyed at the man next to him.  Puck tilted his head slightly, returning the gaze with a soft but still firm look of his own, then sighed and leaned back on his elbows, stretching his legs out in front of him.  “Finn might not have figured it out yet, but I’m not stupid or oblivious.  You’re back here for more than a week, you’re helping out at your dad’s garage and you look miserable.”

Kurt blushed and looked away again, watching the tops of the trees move in the slight breeze.  He knew it had been naïve to hope that neither Puck nor Finn would figure it out in the ten days they were down, but he didn’t like the fact that it hadn’t even taken ten hours.

“If I couldn’t make it in New York, where could I succeed?” he finally asked, turning back to Puck.  He knew there were a few other options – London, perhaps – but those would require a work visa and a lot of ready cash, neither of which he had at the moment.

“Have you ever thought about going out to L.A.?” Puck asked, once again drawing Kurt’s eyes to him in a surprised glance.  Puck shrugged one shoulder lazily, the motion rolling his entire body to the side for a moment.  “I know you think that if Broadway wouldn’t take you, Hollywood sure wouldn’t, but it’s not like that’s all there is to the art scene in the area.”  He looked contemplative, but his voice was calm and sure.

“And where would I start in L.A. that would be something I didn’t already try in New York?” Kurt asked, trying not to sound harsh despite his feeling of despair.

“Well, there are always tons of little community theater projects and the music video directors will often take anyone who can dance but…” Puck’s hesitation made the hairs on the back of Kurt’s neck stand up, the silence filled with the promise of something big.  “I happen to know a company that is looking for someone to write and possibly sing in a commercial to announce an expansion of their operations.  The world of commercials isn’t that big, but it’s a place to start and there are ways to move up into the movies if you’re good enough.”

It was ridiculous, Kurt thought.  The idea of him doing commercials was bizarre at best and offensive at worst.  He turned to give Puck a scathing reply… and then hesitated.  He couldn’t exactly hold on to his pride anymore when his current option was continuing to work at his dad’s garage and facing the possibility of getting stuck in Lima for the rest of his life.  He was 25 now, on the cusp of being too old to really break into the business.  He’d spent three years doing more degrading work than scripting a commercial for pool cleaning, all for a chance at Broadway.  Maybe Hollywood wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to go, but it was something and it could open a few doors on Broadway for him if things went well.

“I don’t want you doing this just because I’m related to Finn,” he said, knowing that he would probably take the offer either way but wanting to still pretend that he had some pride.  It garnered a laugh from Puck, one that was reassuringly good humored and not at all sardonic.

“I decided on doing a commercial about two months ago.  I’ve been interviewing people for the last week and a half, trying to find someone who knows what the hell they’re doing.  I know you’ve got the background and the education and I know you can definitely work with the director I’ve got.  Yeah, I might be giving you the benefit of the doubt because you’re Finn’s stepbrother, but I’m not just making up a job for you so you have an excuse to come to L.A.  I wouldn’t – my business might be doing well, but I still can’t afford that kind of cost just for charity.”  Puck’s grin was wry and self-deprecating and it made Kurt feel like he was being invited in to a private joke.  He smiled back, weakly at first but growing stronger as he once again allowed himself to plan for a future he could be happy with.


	5. Chapter 4

Finn knew that he had a reputation for being more than a bit slow to catch on to things.  It was a remnant of his high school days, when he’d been too busy contemplating girls and his nebulous future to really pay attention to the world around him.  Puck knew better – Puck had been his friend for too long not to know that while Finn wasn’t a genius, he wasn’t a complete idiot either.  Still, there were times when it worked to his advantage and so Finn sometimes played to the crowd, hiding his awareness of things so that he could work from behind the scenes.

He’d figured out that Kurt had moved back from New York within the first few minutes of the phone call.  He’d also heard the strain in Kurt’s voice that said that his step-brother didn’t want anyone to know that he’d given up on his high school dreams.  Finn had carefully avoided talking about why Kurt was in Lima working in Burt’s garage, doing his best to make it sound like he truly thought Kurt was home for a long vacation and just helping out.

Finn had told Puck about Kurt being home and around for their visit with the knowledge that his best friend and boss would understand the unspoken implications.  He’d also known that Puck would want to help Kurt and would know the best way to do so without hurting either Kurt’s feelings or his pride.  Finn’s strength wasn’t in knowing what the answer to a problem was, but he was very good at knowing who _would_ be able to find a solution.  He knew that Kurt needed to get out of Lima again and that he needed something to get him dreaming again.  He knew that Puck cared about Kurt, in the abstract way that he still cared about all of their fellow glee-club members, and that he would find some way to get Kurt motivated.  That was all that Finn needed to know – he had confidence that things would work out with the right people on the job.

Puck didn’t tell Finn about his plans, but the way he hugged Kurt when they landed in Columbus said that he had found a possible solution.  Finn hid his fierce pride and joy in the cleverness of his best friend behind his typical dopey mask, making Burt laugh with his quips about life in L.A. while watching Kurt from out of the corner of his eye.  His step-brother looked even more depressed than he had sounded on the phone, despite his attempts to pretend otherwise.  Finn wondered idly how a guy like Kurt, who was quite good at acting even if his singing was what he focused on, could be so bad at hiding how he was feeling when Finn himself still had everyone convinced that he was oblivious.

Finn kept his eye on Kurt for the rest of the day, and when his step-brother slipped out the back door as they were doing the last of the after-dinner clean up, he caught Puck’s eye and tilted his head in the direction Kurt had gone.  Puck didn’t need any more direction than that, so Finn focused on distracting his mom and Burt by asking about Burt’s political career.  It was interesting enough, especially when Burt admitted that he was considering trying for Governor when the next election cycle came, but Finn couldn’t help but keep part of his attention listening for the sound of the sliding door.

It took longer than he expected for Puck and Kurt to come back inside, and his worries reduced him to smiling and nodding and making encouraging noises as Burt rambled on about his big plans for Ohio’s future.  The quiet whoosh of the door opening and closing set his heart to beating again, and he refocused on Burt, taking advantage of the man stopping to breathe to neatly change the subject to Puck’s plans to expand their business.  Puck slid into the living room a minute later, sitting on the couch next to Finn and quickly picking up the conversational thread.  Finn noticed his mom’s eyes flicking over to the door into the dining room before moving back to Puck and he tensed, but when she didn’t seem to take any more notice of Puck’s long absence, he relaxed again.

Though they talked for another hour before Burt headed off to bed, Kurt never joined them.  Finn noticed Burt’s gruff but silent acceptance of his son’s absence and his mom’s calm awareness of it.  They probably thought that Kurt was too embarrassed to join them, afraid of the fact that Finn and Puck would know what happened to New York.  Finn thought to himself that neither of them knew Kurt very well if they did think that – he was far more likely to come and pretend that nothing was wrong rather than sulk and confirm that something was bothering him.  Going outside had been a stalling tactic intended to give him the chance to recover his composure, not an attempt to avoid them altogether.  The fact that Kurt wasn’t there meant that he was seriously considering whatever Puck had offered him, which made Finn happy.

“So what was the final answer?” Finn asked once Burt and his mom had headed upstairs, leaving him and Puck alone in the family room.  Puck shifted, tucking his feet up under him in a modified tailor’s position.  He always did that when he was slightly nervous – Finn thought that he must have particularly sensitive feet.

“The commercial job.  He’s got the background, he’s worked with Artie before, and God knows I wasn’t finding anyone worth giving it to in L.A.  It’ll give him a month or two to try his luck, at least.  If he’s good enough, I might even keep him on to do a couple more.”  Finn’s eyes lit up and he grinned at his friend, the smile only broadening when Puck’s posture relaxed and one of his feet slid out into view.

“I knew you’d find something perfect,” he said warmly, remembering to keep his voice down at the last minute.  No need to let Kurt know that his step-brother not only knew why he was in Lima but had plotted to get him to L.A.

“He hasn’t agreed to do it yet,” Puck reminded him, smiling despite himself.

“He will,” Finn said with complete certainty.


	6. Chapter 5

Kurt had expected to sleep poorly that night – important decisions always left him restless and the opportunity he was being presented with was definitely important.  His body must have thought that he’d already decided though, because he dropped off into a deep sleep after less than an hour of listening to the soft rustles and creaks of first his parents and then Finn and Puck heading off to bed.  His dad had poked his head in to say goodnight, giving him a curious look at the same time.  Kurt hadn’t bothered to explain his absence, simply put on a contented smile and wished his dad goodnight.  He would be social enough tomorrow to make up for avoiding everyone tonight and his dad and Carole would likely forget about it by the end of the day.

Kurt awoke with a start at the time his alarm clock usually woke him up to go into the garage.  Both he and his dad had taken the day off, though, reasoning that Burt’s second-in-command Ryan could handle the usually small Friday crowd on his own for once.  They’d be alternating half-days next week to give them both a chance to spend time with Finn and, by extension, Puck.  Puck’s mother and his sister Ruth were coming over for brunch on Sunday and would presumably be spending some of the next week with him.  Kurt hadn’t inquired about the exact details of the schedule, being too busy fretting about hiding his failures.  Now that he knew that Puck (and probably Finn as well) knew, he wished he’d asked a few more questions.  If he was going to be leaving with them in nine days, he would have a lot of things to clear up with his dad.

It wasn’t until he thought about how he could leave his job at the garage without hurting his dad or the business that Kurt realized he’d already decided to take the offered job.  It might not be New York, but it was a chance at doing what he loved, even if it wasn’t in the way he’d always dreamed of.  He’d have to negotiate the pay with Puck, of course, and figure out where he was going to live while he was in L.A., but he couldn’t turn down the opportunity.  He’d spent too long searching for a way to get his foot in the door to ignore what might very well be that chance just because it came in an unexpected form.

Kurt got himself ready for the day ahead as quietly as he could, not hearing anybody else stirring and not wanting to wake them.  Despite his decision, he still had a few things to work through mentally before he was ready to talk with Puck or Burt.  He had no idea how he was going to tell his dad that after all his help getting Kurt back into the rotation at the garage, he was going to be leaving again.  Burt would probably be happy for him and encourage him to chase his dreams – it was what he’d done when he’d encouraged Kurt to go to New York, after all – but that didn’t change the fact that he would be left down a pair of hands at the garage.

Still, Kurt mused, the garage had been running fine without him before he moved back.  If they hired a couple of part-time high school students, they could probably even keep the extra evening hours his presence had made possible.  It would give Burt the chance to test out some new blood, see who was an up-and-coming mechanic that he could tie to his garage through loyalty before the kid was even out of school.

“You look like you’re thinking pretty hard,” Puck said from behind him, making Kurt nearly drop the cup of coffee he’d just made himself.  He set the mug down on the counter carefully before turning to face Puck.  The other man was leaning against the far wall of the kitchen casually, an amused smirk on his face.  Kurt gave him a half-hearted glare before leaning back himself, bracing his hips against the counter as he reached behind him for his coffee.

“You said I’d know the director if I did this commercial?”  It wasn’t at all what he’d intended to say, but once the words were past his lips, he didn’t see the point in trying to take them back.  Puck tilted his head slightly to the side, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Kurt as though he was trying to solve a puzzle.

“Yeah, I managed to talk Artie into it.  He’s been doing a lot of little films, really made a name for himself in the L.A. indie scene.  Seems that doesn’t pay too well, though, and his girl’s been suggesting that she’d like to settle down soon and get married.  I offered him enough to help pay for a decent wedding and told him I’d get someone to work up something that wouldn’t offend his directorial sensibilities.”  Puck shrugged slightly, his gaze still fixed on Kurt’s face.

Kurt felt a wave of relief upon hearing that Artie would be the director.  For one thing, it meant that he probably wouldn’t have to do a lot of arguing to have whatever he envisioned actually filmed.  He’d seen a few of Artie’s short films and he’d enjoyed them, so they would undoubtedly be able to work together quite well.  Knowing that Puck had hired another ex-member of the glee club also made him feel a little less like he was getting his job purely because he was Finn’s stepbrother and more because he was someone who Puck knew and trusted to do things correctly.  His pride could apparently handle being offered a job because of a ten-year-old companionship far better than because of whom his father had married.  Silly, but it didn’t change the fact that the knot in his stomach all but disappeared.

“Yeah, I loved his work in ‘Bridge Over Smoothed Waters’.  Had to make quite the hike to see it, considering even New York only had a couple places showing it, but it was very good, especially the cinematography.”  Puck smiled, his shoulders losing tension that Kurt hadn’t even noticed until they relaxed.

“So you’re going to give us – L.A. – a shot?”  The question was soft and Puck’s quick correction showed an unusual amount of vulnerability.  Combined, it was enough to make Kurt nod without a second thought.  He reined in his enthusiasm carefully, knowing that he had to be wary in business dealings, even when his potential employer was his step-brother’s oldest and closest friend.

“We will have to discuss pay and living arrangements,” Kurt said nonchalantly, earning a wry grin from Puck.  “I don’t think it’s worth me finding a long-term rental in L.A. if I don’t know how long I’ll be there for.”

“Of course.  I can already tell you what you’ll be paid, if you’d like.  As for housing – I have an idea, but you might prefer to come up with something on your own.”  Kurt could tell that Puck was baiting him slightly, waiting for him to jump in and ask for further information.  It seemed like it was good humored, though, an attempt to draw him out of his slump.  He appreciated it, but he still didn’t feel comfortable showing just how desperate he was to get a foot in the show business door.

“Your ideas so far have been good,” he said, temporizing to see if Puck would give him the chance to maintain some dignity.  He seemed to understand, simply raising one eyebrow slightly before taking a couple of steps towards Kurt.

“Well, Finn and I have a three bedroom place.  Right now, we’ve kept the spare room as an office, but we’ve got a bed in there for guests.  It wouldn’t be tough for us to let you stay there while you’re working on the commercial.  I know it might not be ideal to move in with your step-brother and his friend, but it does save you the pain of finding a place for that short of a time.  We’d charge you $600 a month for room and board, if you’re OK with that?”  It wasn’t cheap, but it was far less than what Kurt had been spending to live in New York, even with the rent for a two bedroom apartment being split three ways.  The convenience of being able to leave if he couldn’t find any other work in L.A. was more than worth having to live with Finn, especially as he would have his own room and would be paying rent.

“I think I could deal with that for a few months, at least.  If things work out for me, I’ll find my own place.”  Puck nodded at that, his smile widening.

“I have to warn you – you're on your own if you want anything fancy to eat.  Finn and I aren't much in the way of cooks.  Spaghetti and soup are pretty much our staples.”  Kurt dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand.  He'd learned to make do with a less than ideal diet while in school and while he would certainly be indulging himself in some more refined meals, he couldn't foresee any issues paying for the ingredients, even if L.A. somehow managed to be more expensive than New York.

“So long as you're planning on paying me a reasonable amount, I think I can handle  feeding myself whenever I want something special,” he affirmed out loud, turning to rinse his mug out.  He knew that he was avoiding looking at Puck so that he didn't try to interpret the other man's expression and guess at what he would be getting paid.

“I don't think the pay would keep you from much,” Puck said, his voice neutral enough that Kurt gave up his pretense of not being interested and turned to study his face.  “As a matter of fact, it's going to be somewhat up to you.”  Kurt quirked an eyebrow at that statement, but otherwise said nothing, waiting for Puck to fully explain.  “I saved up fifty grand for this commercial.  It'll cost me twenty of that to get it the play it needs on anything other than the local public access channels.  Artie's getting ten of what's left and he's taking care of the actual shoot, except for the location.  That leaves twenty to pay you and cover the cost of actors, props, sets and whatever else we need.  It's up to you whether you want to set both your pay and the budget for the commercial or whether you want to take what's left once everything's paid for.”


	7. Chapter 6

Puck hadn't intended to make the offer right off the bat.  He knew it signalled a great deal of trust, telling Kurt that he would give him twenty thousand dollars to get the commercial done without specifying how much had to go towards producing the actual result.  Still, he remembered how insistent Kurt had always been on doing everything as fairly and correctly as possible and knew that he could trust the other man not to shortchange the commercial budget just to pay himself a bit more.  Not to mention the fact that if Kurt wanted to ride this commercial to further work, he'd have to give it his all.

Still, the blinking, blank face he was presented with was the reaction he had expected and it made him shift uncomfortably.  Kurt opened and closed his mouth a few times before leaning back against the counter behind him, looking dazed.

“I know it's a lot to take in,” Puck said, trying not to regret his eager speech.  “You don't need to decide right now.  I just thought you'd rather know the options before you made a decision.”  Kurt gave him a weak smile, a spark of brightness returning to his eyes.

“I appreciate it, Puck.  It's just – well, as you said, a lot to take in.  I've never been the best with math and money and the thought of being responsible for that much is a bit overwhelming.  Still, I do appreciate being able to have some freedom with the costs of the commercial, if that’s what I think I need.”  Kurt’s smile was still a little thin, but he did seem to be assimilating the shock with relative grace and poise.  Puck was forcibly reminded that Kurt had grown up over the seven years that they had barely seen each other, at least as much as he himself had.  Where they had once both been overly emotional, foolish and self-involved teenagers, Kurt had accepted both his strengths and his weaknesses and wasn’t quite so insistent on hiding himself in a prickly, sarcastic ball.  Puck knew that he had finally accepted himself with all his oddities when he no longer had the urge to put himself (or others) in danger just to distract from the things he didn’t want to think about.

“No worries, Kurt,” Puck said as kindly as he could.  “Just let me know your decision before you do start spending money on the actual commercial.  I’ll deduct your rent from the 20 grand and if you need money, just let me know and I’ll deduct that as well.  I’ll keep track of it to make sure you don’t spend so much that you can’t afford to live or eat.”  Kurt wrinkled his nose in mild annoyance, clearly believing that he would never be so foolish to forget to budget for his own living.  Puck would beg to differ - he’d seen how all-out Kurt tended to go when he was doing something he truly cared about and he knew the other man could and would forget to eat, never mind put aside money for food and rent.

“So what do you like to eat for breakfast?” Kurt asked, changing the subject with a slight smile to indicate that he knew just how awkward the transition was.  Puck smirked right back, feeling himself relax.

“Honestly, I’m not much of a breakfast sort of guy.  I don’t normally eat before I head in to the office, and even once I’m there I only grab a bagel or something like that.  Surprise me?”

“You should eat first thing in the morning,” Kurt scolded mildly, seeming to almost be talking to himself.  “They always used to tell us in middle school that eating a well-rounded breakfast was the best thing we could do for our marks.”  Even as he was talking, he cracked three eggs in a bowl and mixed them, then took some chopped onions and peppers out of the fridge and tossed them in a pan to saute.

“My school did that too - a whole assembly on how we should eat breakfast before classes started.  I was always too busy in the mornings to do more than throw something in my bag to eat once I got to school.  Guess it’s become habit now.”  Puck poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot Kurt had made, adding a heaping spoon of sugar and a generous dash of cream before he decided that it was drinkable.  He didn’t miss the other man’s look of scorn, but he didn’t like the taste of coffee enough to drink it black, even if it was the fancy stuff that Burt seemed to always have.

“I’ve always been a morning person,” Kurt finally said as he was scooping the cooked peppers and onions onto a plate and pouring the eggs into the hot skillet.  “I can remember waking up before my dad was even up and coming down here to get breakfast ready for us both, even when all I could make was toast and cold cereal.”  He placed a lid on the pan and took the seat next to Puck’s, draining the last dregs of the coffee in his mug.

They sat in comfortable silence, Puck slowly working on his own coffee while Kurt browsed through the paper and finished up the omelet.  He cut it in half neatly and slid it onto two plates, placing one in front of Puck and taking the other for himself.  Puck nodded his gratitude, not wanting to break the calm silence.  In his time living with Finn, Puck had learned to appreciate the few quiet times he was able to find.  The other man wasn’t quiet in his daily life, despite not being the sort to chatter meaninglessly.

Originally, Puck had enjoyed the constant presence of noise.  Growing up, silence had been his mother’s favoured form of punishment, a constant heavy weight of disappointment and disapproval that lifted only when she finally began to clatter dishes together to signal that she’d forgiven him once again.  Still, after a year or two of living with Finn, the constant low-level noise had began to grate on Puck’s nerves.  He’d snatched moments of peace when Finn was out on a job, but the simple act of sharing quiet internal focus with another person was something he hadn’t experienced since leaving Lima.

There was some clinking as Kurt collected the empty plates and used silverware and placed them in the dishwasher, but otherwise they simply sat until Finn came thundering down the stairs.

“Hey, Kurt,” Finn said as he skidded into the kitchen, heading directly to the fridge to hunt for food.  He seemed to be completely oblivious to the easy camaraderie Puck and Kurt had been sharing, although Puck could tell by the twitching of his shoulder muscles that he knew something was going on.  Puck figured that either Finn would work it out or they could talk about it when they got a few minutes away from the rest of the household.  Either way, his best friend wasn’t about to expire from unsatiated curiosity.

“You missed out on omelets, Finn.”  At his step-brother’s half-horrified half-pouting look, Kurt snorted indelicately.  “Not my fault you slept in.  You know how early I’m up and when breakfast is normally being made.”

“I just thought New York would have made you into less of an early-bird,” Finn grumbled half-heartedly, returning his attention to the fridge.  He finally emerged looking satisfied, a large plate of leftover roast beef in his hand.  It didn’t take him long to reheat a few slices and throw them on buttered bread and he joined Puck and Kurt at the table to quickly devour the resulting sandwich.

“Much better,” Finn said once he’d finished his meal, sounding quite satisfied with himself.  He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, watching Puck and Kurt intently.  Puck knew that he was hoping to hear good news about Kurt taking the job and regretted the fact that he couldn’t tell his friend that it had all been sorted out.  Kurt certainly seemed to want to take the job, but he hadn’t actually said that he would and Puck didn’t want to pressure him into making a decision either way.

When there wasn’t a reassurance forthcoming, Finn’s brow furrowed momentarily before he quickly smoothed his face out into a generic content expression.  Kurt’s eyebrow twitched upward, indicating a momentary curiosity.  The expression passed quickly, though, and Puck suspected that Kurt had just dismissed the whole thing as a part of Finn’s natural oddness.  In some ways, he felt sorry for his best friend, constantly being underestimated and presumed foolish, even by his own family.  Still, Puck had seen Finn use it to his advantage more than a few times.

Finn never tried to fool Puck, not that he was likely to succeed even if he did - the two of them had been friends for far too long.  Puck still appreciated Finn’s trust in him and lack of willingness to manipulate him.  He didn’t think Finn was actively trying to manipulate Kurt, just letting his step-brother draw his own conclusions.  In some ways, it was Finn’s most effective method of hiding his awareness and intelligence because it only involved someone else’s actions.

“Any plans for today?” Kurt asked Finn and Puck, maintaining a studied casualness that didn’t fool either of them.  Puck once again wondered how someone who was a decent actor could fail so badly at hiding his emotions.  Still, with how obviously Kurt wanted to force the subject, Puck wasn’t about to fight him on it and he doubted Finn would either.

“None specifically,” Finn replied.  “Think Burt said there was somewhere he wanted to take us - outside of Lima but not far...”  He hesitated, his forehead wrinkling again, this time in intense concentration.

“No clue,” Puck shrugged when both Finn and Kurt turned to look at him.  In all likelihood, Burt had mentioned it while he and Kurt were in the backyard.  Finn might not be the self-absorbed boy he had been in high school, but he still wasn’t the best at remembering when exactly things had happened and so he sometimes thought that Puck knew things he hadn’t been present to learn.


	8. Chapter 7

It was almost noon before the five of them were piling into Burt’s new sedan and heading out to the orchard he had mentioned to Finn the night before.  Kurt couldn’t figure out why his dad thought going to an out-of-town orchard was such a good idea for occupying Puck and Finn, but he wasn’t about to complain.  Being able to go out and choose his own food fresh from the field was something he’d missed while he was in New York and he wasn’t likely to be able to experience it much in L.A. either.  He’d even dressed “down” for it, much to both visitors’ surprise - a flannel shirt his father had shrunk in the wash, an old pair of jeans that had been washed so many times they were as soft as the shirt and a pair of boots that, while fashionable, were intended for hard use.

“Yes, I do own clothing that is more function than fashion,” Kurt had said to Puck with more than a little snippiness in his tone when the other man had stared at him for almost two minutes straight.  The quirked eyebrow he’d received in response had twisted in Kurt’s stomach for a moment before he’d brushed by Puck and claimed the back seat behind his dad.  Finn had forced him to move over in the end and so Kurt found himself sitting beside Puck despite his effort, but the separation had been just long enough that Kurt didn’t feel like the carpet had been yanked out from under him.

Burt and Carole had separated off once they reached the orchard, telling the three men to enjoy themselves before disappearing into the rows of trees with looks that Kurt didn’t want to think about too much.  He’d sighed but resigned himself to playing host while his father and step-mother acted like overgrown children.

It wasn’t that Puck and Finn were difficult to spend time with.  Once they’d all gotten over the awkwardness of not thinking about what Burt and Carole were doing, they’d fallen into easy conversation about the goings-on in their lives and those of fellow acquaintances.  Both Puck and Finn expressed surprise at finding out that Kurt still e-mailed and called David Karofsky every few weeks.

“Did you think I agreed to be his friend without really meaning it?” Kurt asked them, raising his eyebrows incredulously.  “I did say that he needed someone to talk to and I wasn’t about to abandon him just because he didn’t handle things all that well at first.  By the time he no longer needed my support, we’d learned enough about each other to have become friends.”  Puck shrugged, as though the explanation was enough, but Finn still looked concerned.

“Hey, I forgave the two of you quickly enough,” Kurt finally said, waving his hand as though it would brush his step-brother’s worries away.  “Granted, neither of you were as terrifyingly horrible as David was, but everyone deserves the chance to earn a second chance.”  That was enough to mollify Finn and his attention turned to the trees surrounding them.

“Not that I don’t appreciate nature, but why did your dad think this was such a great idea?” Puck squinted up at the mostly cloudless sky before turning his gaze on Kurt.  Kurt merely shrugged, not having any real answer to give.  It wasn’t like he had ever been able to fully understand his father, even when they’d been at their closest.  Nowadays, he really noticed their differences, even though he was also noticing some similarities that hadn’t been there when he was a teenager.

“I guess he thinks we don’t get enough fresh air in L.A.?” Finn supplied, reaching up to pluck an apple off a low-hanging branch.  “Or fresh fruit?”  The apple made a moist crunching sound as he bit into it and he looked around guiltily, as though he was expecting someone to tell him off for stealing it.

Deciding that they’d gone far enough into the orchard to find trees that we less picked over, Kurt put his basket down and selected the best tree for climbing before quickly making his way up it.  He peered out from between branches when he was part-way into the canopy, grinning when he saw the dumbfounded looks on Puck and Finn’s faces.

“You two catch what I throw down, OK?” he called down to them, pulling his head back up once they nodded.  The inside of the canopy was cool and dark compared to the outside and he enjoyed the quiet calm of the wind and the singing birds for a moment before scrambling along one of the branches to reach a cluster of perfect-looking apples.  He carefully examined each one after picking it, testing it with his fingers as much as his eyes, then extended his hand beyond the leaves, counted to five and dropped the apple.  He didn’t hear any of the cursing that would indicate the apples not being caught, so when he exhausted the apples near the branch he was on, he clambered over to another one.

“I didn’t know you could climb trees!” Finn exclaimed when Kurt decided that he’d denuded that particular tree enough and made his way back down to the ground.  Kurt’s eyebrow shot up and Finn immediately looked contrite, clearly having thought through what he’d just said.

“You know... like that, like a little monkey or something.”  Finn’s face turned red almost before his jaw snapped shut and Kurt couldn’t help but laugh at his step-brother’s incredible capability for putting his foot in his mouth.  Finn ducked his head in embarrassment, and Kurt patted his arm reassuringly, stifling his laughter by force of will.

“I know what you meant, Finn.  I used to climb trees a lot when I was little.”  He shrugged dismissively, scooping his basket up off the ground.  “It’s mostly  just a matter of muscle memory anyway.”  Puck snorted at that, giving Kurt a sideways look that made it pretty clear that he knew exactly how difficult it was to hoist oneself up a tree using mostly one’s arms.  Still, Kurt didn’t see the point in reminding Finn that even in high school, he’d taken gymnastics and dance classes to help improve his chances when he got to Broadway.  The strength and flexibility were merely byproducts, but he wasn’t about to complain.

“Oh... okay!”  Finn’s face twisted in confusion for a moment, then cleared and brightened.  “I think we need more apples, then.”  He held up his half-full basket in explanation, looking pointedly at both Kurt and Puck’s baskets, neither of which was full.  Kurt smiled wryly and looked at the trees surrounding them.

“Any type in particular?” he asked.  Finn shrugged and looked around for a moment before pointing at a tree a few rows away from where they were standing.

“Those look good.”  Kurt smiled again, gesturing broadly for Puck and Finn to precede him.  The tension broken, they resumed their earlier conversation, moving on to discuss what had happened in the lives of other high school friends.

“Yeah, Sam owns his own Subway franchise now,” Finn said as they finally made it to the tree he’d pointed out.

“Really?” Kurt asked, his tone showing his interest even as he focused on looking for the best path up the tree.  “Last I heard, he was going to OSU for business.”

“He finished that a few years ago,” Puck interjected.  “He’d been working at a Subway the whole time and I guess the guy that does the franchising in the area took a liking to him and gave him a solid deal on a store once he’d saved enough money.  He just bought a second one a few months ago.”

“I feel kind of bad now,” Kurt admitted as he decided on where to start his climb.  “After the whole thing with him and Mercedes... well, she’s my friend and I couldn’t not be on her side, but I did dismiss the possibility that he’d get anywhere.”

“I think a lot of us did,” Puck said with blunt honesty.  “With his family’s financial troubles and his dyslexia, it was pretty easy to just assume that he’d end up doing construction or something like his dad.”

“Dyslexia is words, though,” Finn noted.  “Sam’s really good with numbers, so that might be why he’s doing so well.  Business is mostly numbers, right?”

“Sort of?” Kurt temporized, looking over his shoulder and down at where Finn was standing.  “You have to be good at more than just math to succeed at running a business.  Still, Sam is definitely a people person and if he’s got solid math skills, that’s a start.  I’m presuming that the stores he bought already had their own staff, so all he really had to do was bring in customers.  That’s where understanding people and what  motivates them comes in.”  Finn made a noise that Kurt chose to take as agreement.

“How is Mercedes doing, anyway?” Puck asked after a moment, clearly trying to redirect the conversation to something that Kurt would be comfortable.

“She’s good,” Kurt shouted down, the upper half of his body hidden amongst the lower branches.  “Her fiance Justin just put on his latest show and she’s due to start recording another album in a few months.  She’s happy and doing pretty well for herself.”

“Sounds like it,” Puck replied, his tone indicating at least some interest.  “I was pretty impressed by her last album.”

“That was the one with the song about all of us, right?” Finn asked.  “She e-mailed us all a copy of it.”

“Yeah, that’s the one.  She said she had to give us all some credit for getting her recognized.  Apparently one of the company headhunters decided to sign her after her performance in the Troubletones number at Nationals.”  Kurt punctuated the comment by dropping a couple of apples, listening carefully to make sure they’re caught.  When Finn’s slight noise of triumph told him that they were, he moved on to the next cluster, feeling comfortable and content despite how high up he was.


	9. Chapter 8

Finn was enjoying his visit so far, random trips to orchards and Kurt’s weird mood swings and all.  Granted, he wasn’t hard to please, but it was still shaping up to be a nice week off work.  He could tell that his step-brother was slowly accustoming himself to both giving up New York and giving L.A. a shot.  It wasn’t ideal, Finn knew, but Kurt wasn’t about to get his ideal, not without some realization that at least some of his problem in New York had been his attitude about the whole thing.

The thing about Kurt was that he still thought of himself as above it all.  It wasn’t that he was a snob, or even completely self-absorbed the way Rachel had been during most of high-school.  He’d just spent too long having to hold himself above the crap people threw at him and he had a hard time letting his true self shine, especially when he was nervous.  Finn had never known how to point it out when they were living together, and living at opposite ends of the country had removed him from the situation enough that he didn’t feel comfortable passing judgement on the way his brother did things.

Still, Finn knew that if Kurt had gone into his auditions anything like the way he’d gone into most of the Diva-Offs he’d had with Rachel, it wouldn’t have helped his cause.  Not that he thought that a good attitude would have automatically changed the outcome of Kurt’s auditions.  Finn had learned too much about Broadway while dating Rachel not to know that the roles for a guy like Kurt were few and far between and there were enough guys who could sing countertenor to provide stiff competition.  Still, he personally thought that Kurt was more than talented enough to have deserved some kind of interest.  Maybe it was that the people working on Broadway were foolish enough to have missed his step-brother’s talent, but maybe - just maybe - Kurt hadn’t done his very best to appeal to them but instead just tried to prove his worth.

Finn sighed and tried to push his worry and sadness for Kurt to the side.  What was done was done and it wasn’t like he could do anything after the fact.  His mom had already asked him twice if everything was really going OK out in L.A. because of his dour moods.  He’d hurried to reassure her, of course, but he was definitely getting distracted by his thoughts.

He threw himself into prepping breakfast for the five of them - pancakes, bacon, eggs, and a special sausage for Burt that Kurt claimed was better for him than the bacon.  Finn didn’t know what the difference was, but it mattered to Kurt, and that was enough for him.  Kurt was very good at making sure that his father was healthy - Burt hadn’t had any trouble with his health since his heart attack in their junior year.

“Pancakes?” Puck asked, startling Finn out of his thoughts.  “I’m impressed.  With the amount of cooking you do at home, I wouldn’t have thought pancakes were something you could handle.”  He grinned at Finn’s faked irate glare, pulling one of the chairs away from the table to sit on it backwards.

  1. Puck widened his own grin in response, leaning his chin casually on his crossed arms.



“Sure, sure.  Whatever you say.  You’re definitely not the guy who managed to burn mashed potatoes.”  Finn snorted indelicately, casting a gaze over his shoulder.

“Whose fault was that?” he asked his friend.  “Who decided that I just _had_ to come see this amazing baseball play and then insisted that I sit and watch the next three innings?”  Puck mockingly raised his hand with a quirked eyebrow.  Finn shook the spatula at him before turning back to the griddle and deftly flipping the pancakes.

“You think Kurt’s up yet?” Puck asked after a few moments.  Finn shrugged negligently, turning to look at the door to the main hallway as though he could determine whether Kurt was up just by looking in the general direction of the stairs.

“Probably.  Why?  You want to go bug him some more about coming to L.A.?”

“It has been a few days since we last talked about it.  Not sure if he thinks that what he said was him accepting the job or if he’s just been avoiding it but... yeah, pretty much.”  Finn frowned in support, shrugging again.

“Maybe check out back first?  He’s been spending a lot of time out there lately.  Maybe that means he really is coming with us and is enjoying fall for the last time.”  Finn widened his eyes dramatically, drawing a genuine laugh from Puck.

“Even if he does do the commercial and it gets him somewhere, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to stay in L.A.  Besides, who likes fall?  Eternal summer is the way to go.”  Finn snorted again, but didn’t bother to respond.  Puck knew that one of his least favourite parts of living in L.A. was the relative lack of seasons compared to the wide variety of weather they had become used to in Ohio.  Puck loved the heat and sun and so L.A.’s year-round summery weather was perfect for him.  Even the coldest days were rarely as cold as an average Ohio winter’s day.  Kurt would probably enjoy the heat, even if he missed the seasons at the same time.

The slam of the sliding door brought Finn back to reality and he quickly lifted the pancakes off the griddle, sighing in relief when he saw that they weren’t burned.  After four days of having Kurt up and making breakfast before he’d been up, Finn had hoped to surprise his step-brother with breakfast, even if he wouldn’t be able to get it done before Kurt was usually up.  He’d set the alarm for 6am, figuring that Kurt would want to be up in time to make Burt breakfast before the older man left for the shop.

Finn hadn’t actually seen Kurt in the nearly 45 minutes he’d been up, but he’d also been rather occupied with his cooking for at least the last 20, so it was entirely possible that Kurt had peeked in, seen him making pancakes and left.  It didn’t really matter either way, Finn told himself - if Kurt was up, Puck would find him and lead him to the kitchen after they talked.  Finn just wanted to finish cooking before Burt was up so that Kurt didn’t regret having let him cook breakfast for once.

Puck and Kurt came into the kitchen 10 minutes later, just after Burt, and Finn happily served them up a plate of pancakes covered in berries and whipped cream before putting a portion aside for his mom and loading the remainder onto a plate for himself.  He noted that both Kurt and Puck seemed very relaxed and hoped that it meant there was good news on the job front.  When Kurt pulled Burt out of the kitchen not even a full minute after Burt had cleared his plate, Finn couldn’t keep from smiling.

“Yeah, he’s coming with us on Sunday,” Puck said, leaning back and watching his friend.  Finn suppressed his instinctual fist-pump, settling for a widened grin and a slight bounce of his head that could be called a nod.  Puck’s own grin was more than a little smug - reasonably so, Finn thought.

When Kurt returned, he looked both saddened and hopeful.  He flopped into his seat with a bit more than his usual drama, sighing loudly in something that Finn thought could either be relief or worry.  When he looked up at the two other men, though, he forced a faint smile, enough for Finn to think that it really was relief, even if there was some worry in there as well.

“Well, hope you’re looking forward to having another roommate for a few months,” Kurt said nonchalantly.  Finn kept himself from making any embarrassing noises, but he still smiled hugely at his step-brother, getting a slightly less tremulous smile in response.  Puck patted Kurt companionably on the shoulder, and the smile flickered for a half-second before growing even brighter.  Finn watched the exchange with interest, wanting to know what exactly it had been that Kurt was expecting from Puck and what he had actually gotten.

Cleaning up the breakfast dishes was far easier than it ever was in L.A., just a matter of putting everything in the dishwasher.  Kurt helped with the chore without a single complaint, seeming to have retreated into his own mind again.  Finn cast a couple of worried glances his way, but when Kurt’s face showed nothing more serious than in-depth contemplation, Finn had to shrug and start to think about the remainder of their time in Lima.


	10. Chapter 9

Late Saturday night, Kurt found himself staring blankly at his empty suitcases, his heart in his throat and his head pounding.  He knew all of his things would fit into them - they had two months ago when he had moved back from New York and he hadn’t bought much since then.  Still, the idea of packing everything up and moving across the country again was finally hitting him and he was beginning to freak out.  It was the right thing to do - that, he couldn’t question any longer.  His dad had been surprisingly supportive of it, even having hired one of the two high school students Kurt had recommended.  Burt had also contacted McKinley to see if he could work with their co-op program and recruit the kids in the auto program who wanted a bit of experience.

Kurt finally sighed and began to carefully fold all his clothes into the suitcases, gently caressing some of them as he put them away.  The one advantage to L.A. was that he wouldn’t have to pack all of his heavier things, especially if he was only there for a few months.  Half of the sweaters he took out of his closet he hung right back up, figuring that if he really needed them, he could always ask his dad to mail them to him.

With all of his clothes packed, except for the outfit he’d laid out for the next day, Kurt dragged his three suitcases down the stairs.  Puck and Finn only had one case between the two of them, so Finn had agreed to check one of Kurt’s suitcases.  Kurt wasn’t thrilled about having to pay the fee for a second bag, but it was better than having to pay for all three.  Puck still gave his three cases a distasteful look when Kurt lined them up just inside the living room, but nothing was said and Kurt went to bed with his stomach in knots, running over mental lists of all his things, trying to remember what he might be forgetting.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he must have at some point because he woke up to the sun shining in his eyes.  Panic rose into his throat, and he hid his face in the pillow for a long moment before taking several deep breaths and forcibly calming himself.  With his clothing laid out and ready for him to put on, all he had to do was get ready for the day and pack the remainders of his toiletries.  With a heaving sigh, he pushed up and out of his bed, mentally girding himself for the day ahead.

Three carry-ons and four suitcases just barely fit into the trunk of Burt’s sedan, earning Kurt a disgruntled look from his father.  Finn gave him a sympathetic look before climbing into the back seat with Puck.  The ride up wasn’t quite silent, but Kurt still felt rather awkward, likely because he was still more than a bit worked up.  Burt gave him a long, firm hug when they arrived at Port Columbus airport.

“You’ll be fine,” Burt whispered into Kurt’s ear.  “This is the chance you need.  Just be yourself, do your best and don’t get down on yourself, OK?”  Kurt nodded wordlessly, fighting back tears.  He gave his dad one last, lingering hug before taking his suitcases, strapping his messenger bag to the handle of one of them.  Finn grabbed his third case as well as his own carry-on, with Puck taking the case he and Finn had used.  With a final wave to Burt, they headed into the departures terminal.  Kurt had to force himself not to look back, once again blinking away tears that were threatening to fall.  He’d only been back for two months but to be leaving his father again was hard, especially with the uncertainty he hadn’t felt leaving for New York.

“It’ll be OK, dude,” Puck said, gently laying a hand on Kurt’s shoulder.  Kurt gave him a watery smile, mastering his emotions with an effort.

“Yeah, you’ve at least got us this time!”  Finn’s enthusiasm made Kurt smile a bit more honestly.

They checked their bags with no real issues, Kurt paying the fee for the second checked bag with only a slight wince.  They debated waiting for a bit in the lounge before going through security, but decided that they’d be better to wait in the terminal lounges in order to make sure they did actually get through in time for their flight.

There was a bit of a line up for the security screening, but they made it through with plenty of time remaining, certainly more than enough to stop and have a small snack.  There was a Starbucks at the end of their concourse, at which they each bought a coffee and a muffin, Finn adding a scone to his order.  They settled into a row of seats, each sipping on their coffee.  Finn devoured his scone in a matter of moments, then began to pick at his muffin.

“You skipped our early lunch this morning, no wonder you’re so hungry” Kurt scolded his step-brother.  Finn looked bashful for a brief moment before resuming his destruction of the muffin.

“I wanted to sleep in and so I had to take that time to finish packing” Finn said simply.  “Besides, I knew that we’d have time to grab something here.”

“Still,” Kurt said, “you should know better than to skip a meal and then try to fill up on pastries.”

“We’ll grab a real dinner when we land in L.A., Kurt.  I think Finn can survive until then.”  Puck’s calm reassured Kurt slightly, though he still gave Finn a disgruntled look.  Finn blithely carried on eating and so Kurt returned his attention to his own muffin.  He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he knew that the flight that only seemed like it would take two hours was more like five, what with the the time change.  He would probably be hungry later, but with the meal offered on the flight and the promise of dinner when they arrived, he handed the second half of his muffin over to Finn, who took it happily.

The boarding call came just as Kurt finished his coffee and he collected their trash, quickly tossing it all in the trash can.  They only had to wait a few minutes for the business class passengers to board before the rows that their seats were in were called.  The attendant at the desk looked more than a little concerned over Finn’s height, but she took their tickets without comment, waving them towards the boarding ramp.

Their seats were quite near to the back, only four rows up from the washrooms.  They’d been given the three seats in the middle aisle, something Kurt hadn’t expected given the fact that he’d purchased his ticket less than five days ago.  Puck had taken over the phone while Kurt was trying to work out exactly what the salesperson on the phone was saying about his options, and he had clearly managed to get the correct seat booked.

Kurt took the middle seat, reasoning that as the smallest and shortest, he was the one who would least appreciate the few extra inches the aisle would give him.  The grateful glance and soft squeeze of his shoulder he received from Puck and Finn respectively confirmed his choice being the right one.

Thankfully, there weren’t any delays in the departure of their plane and some thirty minutes after they’d boarded, it was taxiing down the runway.  Kurt popped a piece of gum into his mouth, offering the pack to both Puck and Finn before tucking it back into his jacket pocket.  Puck was outwardly calm, but his eyes betrayed the same faint nervousness that Kurt felt every time he felt the mass of metal that was a plane moving under him.  Finn, on the other hand, was already looking an odd combination of green and pale, clearly not accustomed to flying despite the number of times he’d had to do it since moving to L.A.  From what Kurt could remember, he would be fine once the plane was in the air - something about taking off was what really bothered him.

Kurt’s prediction was proven right - although Finn had nearly crushed his step-brother’s hand when he gripped the armrests during take-off, the taller man was quite happy to discuss the details of Puckerman Pool Cleaning once the plane had stabilized.  Puck was the brains behind the business, clearly, knowing where to put out posters and pamphlets, who to give special services for free in order to get recommendations, and who to hire and fire.  Finn, on the other hand, was the one who was able to actually get peoples’ attention.  He was the one who designed the advertisement materials, wrote up the slogan and even helped Puck craft some lines that their employees used on clients to stir up more business.

“I just can’t do anything filmed,” Finn explained, when Kurt asked why he wasn’t working on the commercial.  “There’s too many variables and I don’t know the people watching it.  Plus I don’t do music and acting the way you do.”

“We did try it, sort of,” Puck said.  “I’m pretty sure that the two pages Finn managed to write over the two weeks he gave it a try were in English, but it certainly wasn’t something we could give to Artie or an actor to make something real.  Besides, you can do the acting as well as the writing if that’s what works.”

“Fair enough,” Kurt replied, smiling and gently patting Finn’s arm.  “I guess you really do need my help.  Finn can’t be good at everything, after all.”  Finn nodded in an overly serious way, drawing laughter from both Puck and Kurt.  With the tension alleviated, they went about discussing some of Kurt’s early ideas, barely noticing the passage of time.


	11. Chapter 10

“God save me from artists,” Puck muttered darkly to Julie as he stormed into the office two weeks after the visit to Lima.  The young woman gave him a sympathetic look before returning her attention to the monitor in front of her.

“You did hire him knowing what he was like in high school,” Finn pointed out, his voice preceding his head poking out around his office door by a few moments.  Puck sighed loudly, then headed into his friend’s office, slumping inelegantly in one of the chairs.

“He’s doing a fantastic job,” Finn continued, seemingly ignoring Puck’s mood.  “Artie’s thrilled with the layouts he’s done and he’s already got two or three commercials that he could probably pull all the way through, given the time.”

“And he’s had two minor breakdowns to do that.  He’s driving himself insane, and he’s going to take me with him.”  Puck knew he sounded angry, but he couldn’t quite figure out how to express his combination of worry and frustration in any other way.

“He’s scared,” Finn said simply, his tone so serious that Puck dragged his attention away from his thought.  “He’s worried that what happened in New York is going to happen here, only if it does, he’s not going to have somebody else barge into his life with a new opportunity.  He needs to realize that it’s not going to all fall apart if he takes some time to relax and have a life.”

“You think we could get him to do that?” Puck asked, a plan beginning to form in his mind.  Finn must have seen the glimmer in his eye, because he was suddenly grinning in an eerily canny way.

“I think so...” Finn started, before hesitating for a few long moments.  “We have to be careful with him, though.  From what little he told me about New York, he spent most of his time either at work or auditions.  He’s not used to the kind of night life we have here, so we’ll have to watch over him.”  Puck nodded, already deep in thought.

Going out to clubs had become one of their few releases of tension about a year after they’d arrived.  They had a few favourites, mostly ones that catered to the slightly more discerning twenty-something crowd that they now fit in with.  Puck was friends with most of the bouncers, the once-upon-a-time use of his wiles to get them in despite the obvious falseness of their IDs having blossomed into genuine friendships.  It was reassuring to both of them to have the extra pair or two of eyes watching over them and ensuring that they were safe.  Lima hadn’t exactly prepared them for L.A. night life, after all.

Puck knew which of their regular haunts would appeal most to Kurt, but he wasn’t entirely sure that  he was ready to reveal that aspect of his personal growth, especially to the man he’d been so cruel to in high school.  It wasn’t like he hadn’t apologized, profusely and repeatedly, for his behaviour, but that still didn’t change the fact that he’d been an asshole to Kurt for almost two years because the kid was different, only to realize that he wasn’t quite “normal” himself, at least not in the way he’d always thought he was.  Choice and variety had woken him to the fact that hey, dudes could be hot too, even if he still generally preferred women.

Puck couldn’t speak to what changed things for Finn, or when they had changed for that matter.  All he knew was that Finn had dated a number of men and had brought at least two of then back to their shared apartment, the first about a year after they’d moved to L.A. and the second not quite three years after that.  Puck found it curious that in all seven years, Finn had never brought a woman home - at least not to sleep with - but he figured that maybe he was going over to their places.  He didn’t bother trying to find out, simply keeping his own partners to himself as much as possible.

Puck wasn’t ashamed of who he was, but he was a little afraid of admitting that he had been confused and unsure once upon a time, especially to Kurt, who had always seemed so aware of himself.  He was also a little nervous about sharing one of his favourite places with someone that he didn’t know _that_ well, even if that person was his best friend’s step-brother and somewhat his own friend.

“We should go to Revolver,” Finn said, startling Puck out of his thoughts.  He’d been pondering getting Kurt out to a club for two days now, and Finn had apparently come to the same conclusion, only without the hesitations.

“You’re not worried about him wondering why we’re so comfortable at a gay bar?  Never mind what will happen if Doug’s working the door that night?”  Finn shrugged off-handedly.

“Why would I be?  I told my mom when I was dating Gerry - I’m sure she told Burt.  Worst that can happen is that word gets back to Rachel and she freaks out or something, which - not really my problem anymore.  Are you not cool with it?”

“I..” Puck hesitated,furrowing his brow.  “I am, I’m just worried that karma’s going to come bite me in the ass or something, you know?  I was such an ass in high school - I’d deserve it if this ends up with me in the shit.”  Finn snorted at his friend’s inelegant turn of phrase.  
“It’ll be fine, dude, stop worrying so much.  The worst that’s going to happen is that Kurt’ll refuse to come with us, and then it’ll just be you and me going out dancing, like every other time.”  Puck relaxed a bit, trusting Finn’s typically sound judgement.

“Think I could use a break myself, but a bit sooner than getting Kurt out will be,” Puck said after several long moments.  “Movie marathon tonight and a half day of work tomorrow sound good to you?”  There were perks to being the boss, including getting to take the occasional part day off work, more than made up for by his usual hours.

“Yeah, that sounds good.  It’s been a bit crazy, having both of you so stressed out.  I wouldn’t say no to having one night of only one person stressing out.  Naked Gun marathon alright with you?”  Finn’s suggestion was right up the lines of what Puck had been wanting, so he nodded, smiling.  Finn tipped an imaginary hat at him before leaving to return to his own office.  Puck knew they both had a few hours more of work to put in, especially if they were going to be missing the next morning, but that didn’t keep him from looking forward to that evening.  Movie marathons were something they’d had to give up in the early years of the company and while they indulged every now and then, it was nowhere near the amount they’d had them the summer after they’d finished high school.

“What do you want for dinner, then?” Puck asked as he and Finn were leaving for the evening.  He’d already stopped by Julie’s desk, informing her that neither of them would be in the next morning.  She’d merely waved him away, assuring him that they weren’t needed and telling him to have fun.  Once again, Puck found himself grateful that he’d offered her a significant pay raise along with her bump up to executive assistant shortly after she’d graduated.  He’d initially been worried that she’d be insulted by the job, but she’d explained that working for a small company with owners that respected her and her skills was pretty much the best scenario she could have hoped for with a bachelor’s degree in Math.

“Something spicy,” Finn responded.  “Thai, Indian, Mexican - anything, really.”

“Think we should call Kurt and find out what he wants?” Puck suggested.  “Might help make the decision.  I could care less - I’m just hungry.”  Finn nodded and passed Puck his cell phone, climbing into the driver’s seat of their truck.  They’d never bothered to buy a secondary vehicle - Finn used one of the company fleet when he went out on his now-rare jobs and living and working together meant they didn’t need another car for their everyday life.

“Hey Finn,” Kurt’s voice said, crackling through the speaker of the phone.

“Hey Kurt, Puck and I are on the way home and we’re both way too lazy to cook tonight so we’re picking something up.  Any requests?”  They could hear a faint ticking sound for a few moments before Kurt sighed quietly.

“Finn wants something spicy,” Puck supplied as the silence dragged out a bit longer.  “He said Thai, Indian and Mexican were on the list.”  Another stifled sigh and then the distinctive sound of a laptop lid latching shut.

“Indian sounds good,” Kurt finally said, his voice a little less depressed than what Puck had become used to over the past couple weeks.  “Chicken Pasanda or a Fish Masala, whichever they have.  Vegetable Biryani too, please.”  Puck smiled - Kurt had just asked for an order twice the size of what he’d been eating since coming to L.A., another sign that he might just be feeling better.

“No problem, dude.  We should be there in about 45 minutes.”

“I’ll set the table, then?” Kurt said dryly.

“We’re planning on eating in front of the TV and having a Naked Gun marathon, if you want to join us,” Finn supplied chirpily.  Puck raised an eyebrow at him, but the taller man’s eyes were fixed on the road, so Puck turned his attention back to the phone.

“Maybe.” Kurt said with finality.  “See you two in a bit.”


	12. Chapter 11

Kurt had originally intended to take advantage of Puck and Finn eating in the living room by taking his own food up to his room and eating in front of his computer.  When he’d gone downstairs to get the food, though, they’d already set up a TV-table for him and put the movie on, and his resolve had wavered.  He came up with a number of excuses to sit and eat with them, but in the end, the truth was that he had a soft spot for Leslie Nielsen spoofs and the promise of a night of relaxing and enjoying them was too much to pass up.

He’d settled in comfortably between Puck and Finn, accepting the Styrofoam tubs containing his food without commenting on the fact that they’d brought him both the Pasanda and the Masala.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to eat both, but it would be nice to have extras left over for lunch, not to mention being able to enjoy a bit of each at the moment.  He spooned out reasonable servings of both dishes over a small portion of the Biryani, settling back on the couch with his bowl cradled against his chest.

“Ready?” Puck asked him once he and Finn had also served themselves and the remainder of the food was stored in the fridge.  Kurt nodded, smiling contentedly as the first movie started.

By halfway through, they’d all managed to clear their bowls, despite having spent most of the time laughing.  Puck paused the movie for just long enough to put the dishes in the dishwasher, then came back, resuming his spot and quickly hitting play.  Kurt let himself relax into the couch, sliding down slightly to rest his head on the back of it.  He felt Puck adjust his position as well, shifting closer.  Kurt’s first instinct was to slide over further to give Puck his space, but the warmth on that side reminded him of Finn’s presence and so he held still.  After a long moment, Puck settled into position a few inches closer to Kurt.

By the time they started the third movie, Kurt was beginning to slump and his eyes kept drifting closed.  He knew he should head off, especially given all the late nights and early mornings he’d been putting in for the past two weeks.  He was too comfortable and lazy to force himself up, so when Puck brought him the glass of water that would have been his excuse to lever himself off of the couch and eventually head to bed, he gave in to the inevitable and settled in.

He couldn’t say when he fell asleep, just that he woke up to the living room being dark, his head pillowed on his step-brother’s shoulder and with Finn’s other arm and one of Puck’s draped over his chest and stomach, keeping him comfortably warm, even in the cool breeze generated by the air-conditioning.  Kurt tried to move slightly, his neck cramping from the odd angle, but both arms tightened on him and he subsided.

“Finn?  Puck?” he tried whispering, unsure of why he was so unwilling to disturb them with sudden movement or a loud voice.  Neither of them responded, though Finn’s arm did tighten again and his shoulder shifted, leaving Kurt’s head in a somewhat more comfortable position.  He tried calling them again, slightly louder this time, but he still wasn’t able to get more than a disgruntled murmur out of Puck and a similar grumble from Finn.

Kurt finally gave up, loosening up his muscles with a conscious thought and trying to relax enough to make the position a comfortable one.  He’d slept in worse locations and for longer, but he still didn’t relish the thought of the crick he’d have in his neck if he slept in that position until morning.  Exhaustion slowly overtook him and his eyelids began to first droop, then close.  Finally, his head sagged backwards, sliding along Finn’s shoulder slightly until it was cradled in the curve.  Kurt’s last conscious sensation was the soft heat of his step-brother’s breath gusting through his hair.

The expected crick in his neck was indeed present the next morning, though not as bad as he’d expected.  It seemed that they had shifted at some point in the night so that all three of them were more prone than upright, Kurt sandwiched neatly between the right side of Finn’s chest and the left side of Puck’s.  Puck was already pulling away, muttering something that sounded like an apology.  Kurt mumbles acceptance back, rolling away from Finn carefully once he felt Puck’s weight and warmth leave.

Finn stirred, blinking owlishly and staring up at Kurt in seeming bemusement.  Kurt shifted back a little farther, stopping when he felt the very edge of the couch.

“Wha’ time ‘sit?” Finn slurred out, peering up at Kurt.  Kurt twisted his head to look at the clock on the PVR, but before his eyes reached it, Puck stepped up beside him, holding out glasses of water.

“Not quite 8:30,” Puck told Finn as the taller man took the glass and drained it in one go.  Kurt accepted his with a small nod and drank it more slowly, swirling the cool water around in his mouth to get rid of the horrible taste and feeling.

“Really?  Shit!” Kurt blurted out when Puck’s words percolated through his tired brain.  “I have work to start...”  He trailed off as one of Puck’s hands landed on his shoulder.

“Not this morning, dude.  You’ve been working yourself thin over the past couple weeks and I know that means that you haven’t been getting as much done as you could if you just gave yourself some time off.  So I’m making you take that time.”  Puck’s voice was firm and Kurt only hesitated for a moment before nodding sheepishly.  Puck was right, as much as it irked him to admit it, and taking at least part of the day off would make him more productive later.

“We’re taking the morning off,” Finn said, sounding more awake and somewhat pleased with himself.  Kurt smiled at his step-brother, then stood, taking the glass into the kitchen with another nod at Puck.  He headed upstairs and slipped into the hall bathroom before either of the other two, taking a quick but thorough shower and changing his clothes.  By the time he made it back down to the kitchen in search of food, both Puck and Finn have changed and Finn’s hair is wet.

“Waffles!” Finn exclaims brightly when he sees Kurt standing in the doorway, gesturing expansively in Puck’s direction.  Puck, for his part, is entirely absorbed in the batter he is pouring ever-so-carefully into the waffle iron, the tip of his tongue just peeking out of the corner of his mouth.  When the iron was full, he lowered the lid, locking it firmly and stepping back with something that sounded quite like a sigh.

“Preference of topping?” he asked Kurt, who was still staring at him rather intently.  “We’ve got chocolate sauce,  whipped cream, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and kiwi.  Also eggs and bacon if you’re on of those people who likes a real breakfast waffle.”  Puck’s tone indicated that he didn’t think much of people that didn’t take advantage of a dessert waffle when it was offered, and Kurt didn’t disagree with him.

“The berries and some whipped cream,” he answered.  “I’ll prep the berries, though - I like them a bit warm and runny.”  Puck nodded and stepped back out of the way, leaning against the wall next to Finn.  Kurt briskly retrieved a pan and the pints of berries, before turning on a burner and tossing a handful of each berry in the pan with a splash of water and a dash of honey.

Kurt has to step back out of the way when the timer goes on the waffle iron to let Puck turn it - not that he couldn’t do it himself, but Puck seems so insistent on doing it that Kurt doesn’t even bother trying to argue.  His berries are done just as the waffle iron beeps a second time.  Puck flips the waffle neatly onto a plate, dividing up the quarters neatly onto three plates and pouring the batter for a second waffle.  He passes the plate with two quarters on it to Kurt, taking the other two to the dining room table for himself and Finn.  Kurt ladles his berry topping into a bowl and brings it, a spoon and his plate out to the table as well.

They manage to consume a waffle apiece, each taking a turn to get the half-waffle portion.  Kurt is pleased to see that both Puck and Finn enjoy the berry mix, even if they did feel the need to add chocolate sauce on top of the fresh whipped cream.  The cleaning up was done in comfortable silence, Kurt scrubbing the waffle iron down in the sink while Puck filled the dishwasher and Finn wiped down the table and put away the condiments.  Kurt lingered in the kitchen, unsure of what to do with himself when he wasn’t throwing himself into work.

“We’re going to head over to the Farmer’s Market, if you’d like to come,” Puck said, stopping in front of Kurt on his way out of the kitchen.  “It’s not thrilling or anything, but it’s interesting, and there’s a good selection of food.”  Kurt smiled at him, nodding slightly, and followed him to the front hall, where Finn was bouncing happily on his toes.  Kurt slipped his feet into the pair of sandals he kept there then followed Puck out to the truck, taking the back seat without comment and sitting behind Puck on the driver’s side to give himself that little bit extra leg room.

The drive was quiet at first, all of them still somewhat blurry-minded from the unexpected amount and quality of sleep they’d had.  Kurt mildly watched the scenery pass by his window, noting with interest that this wasn’t the same path they took to both the grocery store and the office, which was one of the few bits of L.A. he was actually familiar with.  That realization drove him to think that maybe he ought to be taking just a little bit more time off and letting Puck and Finn cajole him into exploring.  They had offered to take him out at least a few times, after all.  If he was only here for a few months, he might as well make the most of it.

“Friday,” Finn chirped just as Kurt was coming to the conclusion.  Kurt blinked, startled, then tilted his head.

“It’s Wednesday, Finn,” he corrected, wondering what had gotten into his step-brother.

“I know _that_ ,” Finn huffed, turning around in his seat to grin at Kurt.  “I was about to ask if you had any plans for Friday, and then tell you to cancel any evening ones.”  Kurt found himself blinking wordlessly again, feeling a little off-balance.

“No, I don’t have any plans,” he finally said, restraining himself from asking Finn who the taller man thought he _might_ have plans with, considering the only people he really knew in L.A. were him, Puck, and Artie.

“Great!” Finn said with a smile and a tone of finality that Kurt found rather foreboding.


	13. Chapter 12

The remainder of the week passed relatively quickly for Finn, though he could tell it was dragging on for Puck by his friend’s frequent glances at clocks.  Kurt also seemed ill at ease since Wednesday morning, though the break had obviously done him well.  He’d managed to bring together one of his initial sketchy ideas into a cohesive and comprehensible 30-second commercial and was working on composing the music for it while waiting for his scheduled meeting with Artie on Tuesday.

Finn had maintained his chipper attitude despite what Kurt and Puck were going through, gently teasing smiles out of them and keeping them focused on the potential for fun coming up quickly.  He and Puck hadn’t told Kurt the specifics of their plan, just that they wanted to take him out and give him a taste of the more typical L.A. visitor experience.  Kurt had initially been suspicious, but Finn had played the time-worn card of “dumb but well-intentioned” and managed to deflect the worst of Kurt’s concerns.

Kurt had seemed overly worried that they would take him somewhere designed for his amusement, not their own, and had protested over and over again that he wanted to go to one of their favourite places, not a _gay_ club or bar.  Finn had exchanged a glance with Puck before assuring Kurt that they were heading to one of their top three, casually but carefully sidestepping the fact that it was favoured at least as much because it was a gay club as because it was designed for slightly more serious-minded twenty-somethings.  He knew that Doug’s greeting would make it pretty obvious to Kurt that he and Puck were somewhat frequent visitors once they got to the club - he just had to keep his brother from putting on the breaks out of self-sacrifice before they actually made it there.

It was the kind of dance that Finn excelled at, the kind that none of his high school companions and some of his L.A. friends would expect him to actually succeed at, never mind be good.  He didn’t bother trying to use it on Puck, though, simply calming his friend with good meals, decent wine and a constant stream of conversation that could keep both of their minds off their nerves.  Puck knew what Finn was doing - he always did - but he appreciated it rather than being offended by it the way many people were.

By the time Friday afternoon rolled around, Finn was beginning to feel the strain of keeping both his best friend and his step-brother something approximating calm.  He was glad that their trip out was later that evening - he wasn’t sure how much more of their stress he could take while keeping a dopey smile on his face.  He didn’t know why he felt so sure that after tonight, things would be resolved one way or another, but he didn’t think about it too much.  He’d learned not to over-think his instincts if he wanted things to go well, and this was definitely a time that he wanted things to go well.

He was practically vibrating on the drive back to the townhouse, his excitement obvious enough that Puck gave him no less than five strange looks in the half hour it took them to make their way through traffic.  Finn shrugged off each one, figuring it should be obvious to Puck why he was so excited.  Kurt had agreed to cook dinner that night, so Finn felt like he had even more to look forward to.

Kurt was putting the last few dishes on the table when they walked in the front door, so both Finn and Puck hurried upstairs to wash their hands, then thundered back down and take their seats at the table.  Kurt smiled at them as he dished out portions of casserole, but there was a tightness around his eyes that told Finn that he was getting nervous again.  Finn tried to fill the silence of dinner with inane chatter and amusing stories, but he gave up when Kurt winced at one rather than laughing.  He didn’t sulk - he knew better than that - but he sat and devoured his dinner in silence, keeping a cautious eye on both Kurt and Puck, just in case.  Both seemed to have finally relaxed, at least enough to not be acting like cats in a room full of rocking chairs.  Finn figured it would have to do - he wasn’t about to try to cheer either of them again unless he really had to.

“What should I wear?” Kurt finally asked while they were cleaning up the dinner dishes.  Finn hovered by the kitchen door, aware that he would take up most of the kitchen if he went in, but still wanting to keep an eye on things.

“Something nice, but comfortable,” Puck replied, casting a too-casual glance at Finn as though he was looking for input.  “You’ll probably want to dance at least a bit,and it can get warm in there, so something that you’re not going to ruin if you sweat on it.”  Kurt arched an eyebrow at that, but when an explanation wasn’t forthcoming, he nodded and headed upstairs, presumably to change.  Finn sighed as his step-brother brushed past him, turning to find Puck looking at him curiously.

“I really hope this helps him calm down,” Finn said in response to the look.  Puck sighed as well and then nodded before heading upstairs himself.  Finn heard the shower above his head turn on seconds later - Kurt, no doubt - and then the one in the bathroom attached to his room a couple minutes later.  He waited until he heard one of them stop before going upstairs himself, passing Puck in the hallway with a small nod.

Finn showered quickly, then pulled out his favourite black jeans and a green shirt that he’d been told brought out the touch of hazel in his eyes.  He knew he’d probably look under-dressed next to Kurt, but he preferred to be comfortable and he certainly didn’t want to limit his already pathetic dancing abilities.  Besides, Puck would be wearing something similar, just a bit tighter, so Finn wouldn’t look too out of place.

Kurt turned out to have a better sense of what to wear than Finn had expected.  When they all met downstairs twenty minutes later, he was wearing a very tight pair of black pants and a soft and silky blue shirt that brightens his eyes.  Finn couldn’t help but beam at his step-brother, who gave him a confused look before returning the smile.  Puck joined them after a few moments, wearing close-fitting dark-wash jeans and a dark red shirt, almost exactly what Finn had expected.

“I’m glad I’m not over- or under-dressed,” Kurt said, his voice expressing something that was almost, but not quite, relief.  Finn gave him a searching look for a second, but finally dismissed it as more worry and anxiety.

“Not at all,” Puck reassured, pulling out both his own shoes and Finn’s.  Finn took his with a nod of thanks, leaning heavily against the wall beside him to pull the shoes onto his feet, then kneeling to tie his laces.  Kurt put a hand on his shoulder and leaned on it to pull at his own shoes, giggling when Finn grumbled teasingly at him.

The taxi Puck had obviously called while he was getting ready honked just as Kurt let go so that Finn could stand up.  They hustled out the front door, then down the stairs to the circular drive in front of the complex, Finn taking the front seat while Puck and Kurt climbed into the back.  Finn gave the address to the driver quietly, knowing that Kurt is listening intently in the back seat and not wanting his step-brother to try Googling the place before they get there.  Damn technology making things harder for him.

The drive wasn’t a long one, and Finn and Puck managed to keep Kurt distracted between the two of them.  The cab driver just smiled at Finn when he asked if he could change the radio station, so Finn scrolled through until he found an oldies station.  Kurt laughed long and hard when “Any Way You Want It” came on, and neither Finn nor Puck could help snickering.  By the time they reached Revolver, all three of them were wailing along to the Eagles and the driver is clearly trying not to laugh at them.  Finn tossed him a twenty and a five, waving off the change, then nearly rolled out of the cab, skidding to a stop just before he ran Kurt over.  Kurt, who had stopped not five steps onto the sidewalk, staring at the club in consternation.

“I thought I said no gay clubs,” he said, his voice the icy cold of anger.  Finn winced back instinctively, but Puck took a step forward, slinging his arm over Kurt’s shoulders and steadily walking him forward.

“No, I believe your exact command was for us to take you to one of our favourite spots, which is exactly what we’ve done.  Your mistake was presuming to know what our favourite club would look like.”  Puck’s tone was just the slightest bit too sweet, which Finn knew meant that he was a little irked at Kurt’s presumption.  Still, he was obviously trying to be nice, probably remembering that Kurt’s last real perception of him was from high school, where he was better known for his womanizing than his interest in men.

“You...” Kurt started, then stopped, blinking and following Puck another few steps toward the club.  He turned his head enough to peer at Finn, his mouth starting to gape again.  “Both of you?”  His voice was spiraling up into its higher register, squawking slightly.  Finn just shrugged, but Puck tightened his arm, pulling Kurt forward a little bit more.

“Yeah, dude, both of us.  Surprised?”  It was enough to startle Kurt out of whatever circle his mind had gone into and he barked out a laugh.

“Considering high school?  Just a bit!”  Puck laughed too, the tension flowing out his shoulders.  Kurt seemed to relax as well, even going so far as to tuck his arm around Puck’s waist.  Finn smiled at seeing that, lengthening his stride to catch up and toss his arm over Kurt as well.  Kurt blinked up at him once, then beamed, reaching his other arm as far around Finn’s waist as he could.  Linked together into one long line, the three of them approached Doug at the door.

“Finn, Puck!” Doug exclaimed, grinning widely at them.  “It’s been a while.”  His eyes slid over Kurt with only a slight widening of his grin, but it was enough for Finn to step forward slightly, placing himself in between Doug and Kurt.

“Doug, this is my brother Kurt.  He’s working with us for a while, so we figured we should show him our favourite place to go.”  He raised his eyebrows meaningfully, smiling in gratitude when Doug nodded and stepped back, clearly understanding Finn’s message that tonight was not the night for teasing.

“Well then, far be it for me to stop you from enjoying,” Doug said, pulling the door open with an exaggerated gesture.  “I won’t even bother carding your far-too-young-looking brother.”  He waggled his eyebrow at Kurt, who ducked his head and blushed before following Finn and Puck into the thumping, flickering darkness of the club.


	14. Chapter 13

Kurt hadn’t ever really understood the point of clubs.  Part of that was undoubtedly the people he’d known in the years he’d been old enough to go to most of them - his friends had either been the sort to get overly tipsy and act wildly or sit at the bar and glare at the entire room.  He’d gone once with Rachel and Jesse, but the two of them were so intent on getting the attention and admiration of everyone in the building that they’d abandoned him within a few minutes.

Going out with Puck and Finn was completely different and Kurt was surprised by how much he was enjoying it.  They never left him alone, either flanking him like odd, mismatched body-guards or one staying directly behind him while the other wandered off, usually to get drinks.  They didn’t even seem to be going out of their way to get him drunk, Puck alternating alcoholic drinks with water while Finn almost exclusively bought fruity non-alcoholic concoctions.  Kurt had tried to buy a round, but had been summarily told to keep his money for when he needed it.

The music was the right blend of old and new, all of it with a good, steady beat that still managed not to be overwhelming.  Kurt dragged both men onto the dance floor when “Sexy and I Know it” came on and the three of them reprised the few moves they remembered from the long-ago glee club rehearsal, filling in the gaps with whatever came to mind.  Finn would have left after the song, but Kurt grabbed his hand and gave him a sad look, which was apparently enough to convince him that his awkward dancing wasn’t really _that_ bad.

It really wasn’t, Kurt mused, as the increase of bodies on the floor pressed the three of them together.  Finn’s biggest problem was worrying about how to dance and when he stopped that, he could at least move with the time, if not bust out a complicated sequence.  Puck was undeniably a better dancer, but he still wasn’t prone to the sort of flashy movements Mike had always incorporated into his solos.  Then again, neither was Kurt, especially not when space was as tight as it was on the dance floor.  He contented himself with making sure his hips moved to the beat, taking steps when he got the chance and not worrying when he didn’t.

The press of people didn’t let up the way Kurt expected it to, even when the DJ switched to the occasional cool-down song to try and prompt people to the bar for drinks.  Kurt couldn’t tell if it was a constant shift of people coming on and off the floor or if the rest of the crowd had just decided to skip drinking for the night.  Either way, the three of them were backed up against the chest-height wall that marked one corner of the dance floor, and with Finn able to reach over it to get glasses of water, none of them were making any attempts to move outside of their allotted space.  As their space slowly began to decrease, Finn took a strong stance, providing a buffer along Kurt’s back while Puck shielded his front.

Kurt didn’t know if someone stumbled into Puck, pushed him, or just surprised him with a sharp elbow, but suddenly the larger man was taking a barely-controlled step forward into what little space Kurt had claimed for himself, forcing him back in turn until his back was pressed hard against Finn’s chest.  Puck nearly slammed into his chest, catching himself just in time with an arm braced on Finn as well.  He turned to snarl something at whoever it was that had bumped into him, but he didn’t back away from Kurt.

“Sorry,” Puck said, his face suddenly far too close to Kurt’s.  “Apparently, we were taking up too much space.  Want to get out of here?”  He directed the last sentence to Finn as well, who had dropped his head down closer to Kurt’s.  He shrugged, the motion rolling through Kurt’s back, and Puck’s eyes focused entirely on Kurt.

“I’m fine if you guys want to stay,” Kurt said, feeling oddly breathless, fighting to raise his voice enough to be heard over the music even at such a short distance.  Puck smiled at him lopsidedly, before looking up at Finn again.  A drink appeared in the air beside Kurt and he took it, tilting his head back to look up at Finn.

“We’ll give it a few minutes, see if we can get a bit more space.  Until then, we might as well have something to drink,” his step-brother explained, passing the next cup to Puck before lifting his own close enough to seize the straw with his teeth.  One of his arms settled along the side of Kurt’s waist, the hand resting on Puck’s hip, and seconds later Puck mimicked him, bracketing Kurt securely between them.

At first, they were able to keep dancing, pressed together like sardines in a can but still able to shift and sway.  At another time, Kurt would have laughed off calling it dancing, but with the limited space, it was the best they could do.  Of course, it didn’t leave a lot of room for hiding, so Kurt was intensely aware of the fact that both Finn and Puck were quite enjoying being pressed up against him as they danced.  He felt like he should be concerned about it, but the subtle movements of their bodies sent his mind into overdrive.

Kurt had only had four, maybe five drinks, but he felt like his head was spinning, the air surrounding him heating to an almost unbearable point.  He knew it hadn’t been long enough for him to be desperately throwing himself at the first man to give him something approximating physical contact, so he couldn’t explain to himself why he felt like the arms on either side of him were brands, burning him even through his shirt.  He leaned his head back, searching for cooler air, but only found the heat of Finn’s chest against the top of his head.

“I think we should get out of here,” Puck murmured next to his ear and Kurt hummed, nodding, oblivious to the way it messed up his hair.  Puck turned around, his arm replaced by Finn’s other one, his grip on Puck’s hips keeping the three of them together as they threaded their way through the crowd and to the exit.  Kurt was expecting Finn to let go of him once they made it outside, but all he did was step to the side, leaving one arm around Kurt. Puck dropped back to Kurt’s other side and also slips an arm around his waist, the two of them steering Kurt as though they thought he was drunk.  Kurt knew he wasn’t - although there was the faint fuzz of being tipsy, his head was mostly clear, especially now that they’d stepped out into the fresh, warm night air.

They piled into a taxi-van, all three of them in the back seat, and Kurt found himself pulled into  strong arms, Puck’s face mere inches from him.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” Puck said, ghosting the words against Kurt’s lips.  Kurt shivered and sighed, feeling Finn shift behind him and put a hand on his back.  That gave him the courage to shake his head minutely.  A second later, Puck’s mouth was on his, hands grasping his head and fingers laced through his hair.  Kurt hesitated for a moment, then returned the kiss with equal intensity, letting Puck tilt his head into a better position when he insistently tugged on his hair.

One of Finn’s hands ran gently down Kurt’s arm before switching directions and tracing up Puck’s, who gasped slightly and pulled away from Kurt.  Finn slipped the hand around Kurt and pulled gently, a non-verbal request for him to turn around.  Kurt didn’t even hesitate this time, but twisted around and slid over the few inches so that he was pressed up against Finn.  Puck made a disconcerted sound, then slipped over as well.  Kurt spared a moment to wonder why the cab driver wasn’t getting them to put their seat-belts on, then abandoned the thought in favour of looking up at Finn with what he knew were wide eyes.

“Kurt...” Finn half-whispered, one hand brushing against Kurt’s cheek while the other clutched at his waist.

“Finn... it’s OK, Finn,” Kurt replied, shifting closer and tilting his face up.  That seemed to be all the invitation Finn needed, because he bent down and captured Kurt’s lips in a desperate, heated kiss.  It was different from Puck’s, Kurt couldn’t help but notice, less practiced and perfect, but hiding much deeper feeling.  Kurt coaxes him into gentling his lips a bit, getting a bit closer to Kurt’s favoured type of kisses, but before they got too swept up in things, Finn was pulling away, dropping swift, shallow kisses on Kurt’s lips as he retreated.  Kurt was about to pout at the loss, but Puck’s face appeared over his shoulder and he abandoned his reaction in favour of watching with interest as Finn blinked twice and then crushed his lips to Puck’s.

“Why the hell did we not figure this out sooner?” Puck asked when he pulled back, resting his chin gently on Kurt’s shoulder.  Kurt blinked at him, but Puck was clearly addressing Finn.

“We needed a catalyst,” Finn responded, dipping his head to rub his cheek along Kurt’s.  “Besides, with the two of you stressed out, I doubt you’d have been open to the idea.”  Puck sighed, and Kurt briefly contemplated arguing, before deciding that there were better things he could be doing and tilting his face up in invitation to whichever of the other two chose to take it.

Finn was first this time, his breath gentle on Kurt’s mouth for a long moment before he was closing in and once again kissing Kurt like his life depended on it.  Kurt hummed softly, volume increasing when Puck took it upon himself to start alternating kisses between Kurt’s neck and Finn’s.  Finn moaned loudly into Kurt’s mouth when Puck caught his ear lobe gently in his teeth.

“You two might want to cut it out for a few minutes so we can get out of this cab and behind locked doors without too much embarrassment,” Puck whispered into their ears, and they broke apart reluctantly.  Puck stole a quick kiss from each of them, smirking, then pulled out his wallet as the taxi turned into the drive.


	15. Chapter 14

Puck hadn’t ever expected to fall into bed with his best friend, never mind his best friend’s step-brother.  He’d certainly never expected for the three of them to be in bed together.  The quick discussion on the way from the door of the complex to the door of their townhouse had led to the determination that he had both the biggest room and the biggest bed, so that was where they were, all still partially dressed and indiscriminately kissing whoever they got a hold of.  Puck tugged on Kurt’s pants, intent on getting them off, and felt Finn doing the same to his own.  He arched his back, pulling first his hips and then his knees off the bed to help Finn with the task.

“Puck,” Finn said, still speaking in the odd, hoarse half-whisper that he’d had in the taxi.  Puck twisted to face him, abandoning Kurt’s pants for the moment.  Finn’s face looked completely blank, but his eyes seemed to be trying to burn a hole through Puck’s boxer-briefs.  Puck smiled reassuringly and extended a hand, pulling Finn down into a kiss when it was taken.  He could hear Kurt humming happily behind them, and the shifting of the bed told him that the other man was probably taking the chance to shed his clothing.

Puck’s theory was confirmed when he peeled himself away from Finn and rolled to wrap an arm around Kurt’s waist and drag him into the fray.  Kurt immediately set to attacking Finn’s pants, his fingers much more nimble than either Puck’s or Finn’s.  Puck supposed that came from years of wearing clothing with far too many closures to be reasonably realistic.

“Fuck,” Puck all-but-moaned as Kurt’s mouth suddenly closed around one of his nipples, playing with the piercing with his tongue.  He was about to do... something, he didn’t quite know what, when Finn leaned over to kiss him again.  Kurt’s mouth left him, then Finn’s did as well and the two of them were kissing over top of him.  Puck moaned again, wordlessly this time, and reached up to run his fingers through the hair of both the heads hovering so tauntingly in front of him.

“Hello there,” Kurt purred, tearing himself away from Finn to smile down at Puck.  The predatory edge of it had Puck dragging him down for a hard kiss, one that ended in a gasp as he felt Finn nuzzling at his cock through the thin fabric of his underwear.  Kurt pulled back a few inches and tilted his head to look down at what had distracted Puck.

“I think he might enjoy that more if you were to get rid of the boxers, Finn,” Kurt said, his voice warm and only slightly amused.  Finn muttered something about pushy people and not understanding the value of building up to things, but he did what Kurt had suggested anyway, helped by Puck bucking his hips off the bed when he felt the back of Finn’s fingers brush along the length of his cock as he pulled the underwear down and off.  Puck was about to say something clever in response to Finn’s complaining, but his mouth went dry when Kurt pulled back and efficiently and gracefully stripped himself of the the tight blue briefs he was wearing.  A quick glance from Kurt had Finn joining the party and soon all three of them were pressed together, completely naked except for Kurt’s socks.

Puck felt more than a little lightheaded as he pressed kisses along the length of Kurt’s neck while Finn lavished attention on each of his step-brother’s fingers, one at a time.  He really couldn’t believe that he and Finn hadn’t thought to do this before, because now that he was looking at his friend in a sexual light, he could see exactly how attractive Finn was.  Kurt had pinged on his radar as worth considering, but he’d dismissed it as foolish, especially after the whole thing with Quinn and Rachel back in high school.  Puck wondered idly whether he would have ended up with Kurt in his bed as well if he and Finn had clued in earlier, then lost the train of his thought when Finn transferred his attentions from Kurt’s fingers to Puck’s cock.

“Shit,” Puck swore, one hand dropping to clench in Finn’s hair, only barely stopping himself from actively directing his friend.  Kurt laughed, pulling away slightly and running his hand down Puck’s arm to lace his fingers through both Finn’s hair and Puck’s own fingers.

“Told you he’d like it better without the boxers,” Kurt said, sounding pleased with himself.  Puck let out a strained, strangled groan, then reached up his free hand to grab Kurt’s head, bringing the smaller man down for a kiss.

“Too smart for your own good,” he panted when he released Kurt, reaching out to pinch one of his nipples in retribution.  The squawk he had been expecting turned out to be a moan and soon Puck had his teeth gently tugging at first one, then the other of Kurt’s nipples, reducing the man to pants and wordless groans.  Finn left off sucking on Puck’s cock, earning himself a grumble, and happily leaned over top of the two of them to kiss Kurt, capturing the noises he was making.  Presented with Finn’s chest, Puck switched nipples, bringing up a hand to keep toying with Kurt’s.  Finn yelped, the sound not entirely stifled by Kurt’s mouth, then moaned, a low rumble that Puck felt more than heard.  Puck grinned and nipped sharply before soothing the bite with his tongue and lips.

“Fuck, Puck,” Finn groaned, tearing himself away from Kurt to look down at the man trapped half-way underneath him.  Puck laughed like he always did when one of his sexual partners stumbled onto the rhyming exclamation, pulling Finn down to him when the taller man looked like he was considering pulling away.

“Fuck indeed,” he whispered before claiming Finn’s mouth, feeling a burst of hot air against his stomach as Kurt huffed out a laugh.  Seconds later, Kurt’s mouth resumed where Finn had left off on Puck’s cock, tracing circles along the length and then engulfing the tip.  Puck moaned into Finn’s mouth, raking his fingernails up his friend’s back and then down again, drawing out a groan.  Puck grinned as Finn pulled back slightly to look at him with glazed eyes, then yelped slightly when Finn bent back down to nip at  his neck.

Kurt pulled away just as Puck began to feel a spiraling tightness at the base of his spine, crawling over to the head of the bed to root around in the drawer of the bedside table.  Kurt pulled out a small bottle of lube and a strip of condoms, tossing them in the general direction of Puck and Finn before quickly clambering back down the bed to join them.  He draped himself partially over Finn’s back, pressing kisses in a winding line down his back until he reached his tail-bone.  Finn whimpered, his spine stiffening slightly as he tried to simultaneously press himself against Puck and arch in an invitation to Kurt.

“Tell me what you want, Finn,” Kurt whispered, trailing little nips back up until he reached Finn’s ear.  Kurt’s eyes met Puck’s over Finn’s shoulder, asking the same question silently.  Puck pulled his mouth away from Finn’s, stretching his neck to press a kiss behind Finn’s ear and then one to Kurt’s lips.

“I want to fuck you, Kurt,” Puck said softly before nipping at Kurt’s lips.  Finn and Kurt both moaned simultaneously, with Finn’s hips thrusting against Puck’s for a moment before he stilled.

“Can I fuck you?” Finn asked, his voice even more broken than it had been before.  Puck nodded, stroking his hands down Finn’s sides reassuringly before carefully slipping out from under him.  Kurt retrieved the bottle of lube and pressed it into Puck’s hands before scooting back on the bed to lean back against the headboard.

“All at once?” Puck asked, feeling like his heart was in his throat.  He’d done this before, albeit with a man and a woman rather than two men, but he doubted either of the other two had experienced multiple partners and he knew that coordinating simultaneous penetration wasn’t as easy as porn made it sound.

“It’s better that way, if you’re both OK with it,” Kurt said, shocking Puck.  He must have caught Puck’s expression because his mouth twisted slightly, as though he regretted speaking up.

“Please,” Finn breathed, and Puck turned to look at him.  Finn pupils were blown completely, only the slightest ring of hazel-brown around them, and he was breathing hard and fast.  Mouth suddenly dry, Puck could only nod and slick his fingers up before tossing the bottle to Finn and rolling to present his ass while also sliding closer to Kurt.

At first, Puck thought that Finn had forgotten how to prep for anal, or maybe that he was just so overwhelmed that his brain had short-circuited, so he set about slicking and opening Kurt, one careful finger at a time.  He had just reached three fingers when he heard the click of the bottle lid and his eyes met Kurt’s triumphantly.  Finn didn’t take long once he’d finally started moving, quickly sliding first one finger and then a second into Puck.  Puck kept up his attentions on Kurt despite the fact that he was starting to pant with need.  When Finn slipped a third finger into Puck he had to pause for a long moment, dropping his head and focusing on just breathing.

Kurt finally got impatient and shifted his hips down and further onto Puck’s fingers, whimpering.  Puck took that as a sign that he was ready and reluctantly pulled away from Finn, slicking up his cock with the lube before hovering over Kurt.  He waited until the smaller man opened his eyes before he pushed in, watching for any signs of hesitation or pain.  There was nothing, only the slow slide of slicked skin, Kurt exhaling on a low moan the entire time.  When Puck was seated fully he paused, then gave one experimental thrust before bracing himself properly, his legs spread slightly.

“Finn?” he said, his voice cracking as Kurt wiggled around just a bit.  Suddenly, Finn was leaning over him, his cock gently pushing forward, entering Puck in a slide that was the same but the opposite of how he’d pushed into Kurt.

“Oh fuck,” Finn breathed when he was finally in Puck, then he withdrew slowly before re-seating himself in one quick, hard thrust, pushing Puck into Kurt who whimpered loudly and thrust his own hips towards Puck.  That set off a chain reaction and Puck soon found himself rocking between Finn’s cock and Kurt’s ass, each thrust sending shivers down his back that wound the spiral centered somewhere deep inside him tighter and tighter.

Kurt was the first to come, one of Finn’s hand wrapped around his dick and stroking him with long, firm movements.  Puck had to hold himself as still as possible while Kurt’s muscles tightened around him and Finn continued to thrust into him.  When Kurt finally started to loosen, Puck was right on the edge and so it only took him a few more thrusts before he too was coming, with Finn releasing into him just as he started to tense and shake apart, his elbows locking in an effort to keep from collapsing on Kurt.

Finn went limp and rolled to the side, taking Puck with him with the arm he had wrapped around his waist.  Kurt turned his head to look at them, his expression one of absolute bliss.

“Fucking awesome,” Puck said, his honest words drawing laughter from the other two.  Kurt rolled out of the bed, returning with two damp cloths, which they used to wipe off the worst of the mess before it dried and got crusty.  When they were clean, they all curled up together, Puck dragging the covers up over them with the last of his strength.  Just as he was falling asleep, he heard Finn mumble into the back of his neck: “Next time, I want Kurt to fuck me.”  Puck chuckled tiredly, falling asleep before he could think of a clever response.


	16. Chapter 15

Kurt wasn’t the sort to wake up feeling disoriented if he was in a strange bed, despite the fact that it happened so rarely that he shouldn’t be accustomed to it. Because of this, opening his eyes to the sight of a well-loved old acoustic guitar was just a re-affirmation of where he was, rather than a signal to panic and worry.  He shifted carefully, smiling as he felt a heavy arm around his waist, and then carefully slid out of Puck’s grasp, resettling the covers once he was free.  He felt a little silly leaving bed without waking the other two, acting like he was ashamed.  He might well be later, but for now he had a song tinkling through his mind and he knew it would be perfect for the commercial if he could just get it written down and refined.

His tablet was awaiting him on his desk and he quickly pulled up his composition application, tapping out the melody on the piano first, then switching to the guitar for the harmony.  He was in the process of adding in the backing drums when he realized that he’d essentially just written a song for him, Puck, and Finn to play.  He contemplated erasing it for a moment, before finishing the drum lines and hitting the play button.  There were certainly some rough edges, and he’d probably need to tone down the drums a bit, but it would work well.

“That sounds nice,” Puck said from behind him, his arms coming down on Kurt’s shoulders just in time to keep the smaller man from jumping.  “What is it?”  Kurt tilted his head back, letting his hair brush along the length of Puck’s neck and smiling as Puck shivered.

“Something that came to me.  I think it would work for the commercial with a bit of fine-tuning.  I didn’t want to forget it, so came in here to write it up as soon as I woke up.”  Puck’s shoulders relaxed, telling Kurt that he had guessed correctly.  Puck had come to check up on Kurt, worried that he was upset and regretting the previous night.  Kurt smiled as reassuringly as he could from his uncomfortable vantage point, the smile widening when Puck came around the side of the desk so that they could talk face-to-face.

“You are going to relax about that a bit more, right?” Puck asked, his tone concerned enough to let Kurt know that he really meant it.  Kurt laughed a little, smirking when Puck raised an eyebrow.

“Isn’t there supposed to be some threat along the lines of ‘if you don’t, we’ll make you’?  Though I suppose that’s not really a threat as an incentive,” Kurt said, lowering his eyelashes slightly so he could veil his expression of hope.  He knew Puck was expecting him to freak out about how weird it was for the three of them to sleep together, never mind be in some kind of on-going relationship.  It _was_ weird, Kurt thought, but he’d learned that weird didn’t invalidate good, even if it garnered some unpleasant reactions from friends and family.  Granted, the last “weird” thing he’d been involved in was another triad that split up because one of the participants had decided that Kurt wasn’t worth the hard time he was getting from his friends.

“You’re remarkably calm,” Puck said quietly, snapping Kurt out of his reminiscing.  Kurt tilted his head questioningly and Puck half-shrugged, his hands moving in seemingly unconscious fidgets.

“You thought I’d be more than a little freaked out by last night, didn’t you?” Kurt asked, keeping his tone as light-hearted as possible despite the accusatory words.  “I won’t deny that it’s a little weird when I think about it too hard, but I don’t intend to do much thinking about it.”  Puck blinked at him and Kurt leaned back, lacing his fingers together to hide the fact that he was trembling.

“Finn and I aren’t really related and while we are technically brothers, I don’t call Carole Mom and he doesn’t call my dad Dad.  We really only lived together for a year and a half, and between him working and our mostly separate groups of friends, we didn’t spend a lot of it doing things together.  It’s more like one of us was an exchange student or something like that.”  Kurt finally bit his lips closed, feeling more awkward than he had all morning.  The awkwardness was why he hadn’t wanted to think about it or justify it for the first little while.  Still, he could understand Puck’s need to check that everything was fine - he was as much a part of things as Kurt and Finn were, after all.

“If either of us was an exchange student, it was you,” Finn said from the doorway, leaning against it as though he had been standing there for a while.  “I hardly ever saw you for most of our senior year.”  Kurt smiled at him and Finn took a few steps into the room, one arm wrapping around Puck’s waist almost instinctively.  Puck leaned his head to the side and back to rest it on Finn’s chest, smiling up at his friend.

“And then you were gone for the entire summer,” Kurt responded gently, pushing away from his desk and stepping over beside Puck and Finn.  He was about to step back again, feeling rejected, when Finn reached out with his free hand, taking hold of Kurt’s shoulder.

“Are we OK?” Finn asked, eyes crinkled at the corners in worry.  Kurt smiled reassuringly, taking another step forward and tucking himself into Finn’s side.  Finn sighed, his entire body relaxing around Kurt’s, and he bent down to drop a kiss on the top of Kurt’s head.  Kurt tilted his face up to Finn’s, accepting the kiss that Finn pressed to his lips, then one from Puck as well.

“Glad we got that all sorted out,” Puck said once he and Kurt broke apart, smirking.  Kurt wrinkled his nose at him and gently prodded him in the stomach.

“Aren’t you two going to have some existential crisis about how your manly bro-ship has suddenly turned into fucking each other’s brains out?” he asked tartly, yelping when Puck tickled him gently.  Puck hummed thoughtfully, and then looked up at Finn.

“I don’t know.  Do you think we should, dude?”  Finn furrowed his brow in a parody of intense thought, then bent down and kissed Puck, long and lingering.

“Think we’re good now,” Finn quipped, smiling his dopey smile while Puck laughed.  Kurt joined in after a moment, content with the fact that the soul-searching was done for the moment.

“You should hear what Kurt’s come up with for the commercial, Finn,” Puck said after a long moment of them just standing there.  Kurt nodded and leaned over to bring his tablet out of sleep-mode, hitting play and leaning comfortably against Finn as the song played.  When it was done, he twisted to look up at Finn’s face, letting out a small sigh when he saw a huge smile.

“It’s a song for the three of us, isn’t it?” Finn asked.  Kurt blinked at him, momentarily shocked that his normally dull step-brother figured out the initial inspiration for the song more quickly than even Kurt had.  Puck looked completely unsurprised, making Kurt suspicious.

“You’re not as dumb as you like to play, are you?” he asked Finn, arching one eyebrow in the way he knew made Finn feel guilty.  Finn ducked his head and blushed slightly, and Kurt relented, tucking his head in underneath Finn’s chin and giving the taller man a hug.  “Yes, it’s a song for the three of us.  Last night apparently was enough to get my mind working again, and this is what it came up with using that inspiration.”  Finn wrapped Kurt in his arms and squeezed gently.

“I’m not sure whether to melt or join in,” Puck’s voice commented from behind Kurt, sounding good humoured.  Kurt pulled back a bit, looked up at Finn, then twisted to the side and pulled one arm away from Finn to welcome Puck in.  The smile he received for that warmed him all the way through, almost as well as Puck’s body pressed along his right side or Finn’s along his left.

They finally disengaged from each others’ grasps after a few moments, Kurt going to carefully save his song and Puck drifting toward the stairs, muttering something about food.  Finn didn’t move, just stood in the middle of Kurt’s room, watching him set his tablet back into sleep-mode and tidy up a bit.  Just as Kurt was about to leave, Finn reached out and gently caught hold of his wrist, tugging gently to pull Kurt back into his embrace.

“We are OK, aren’t we?” Finn asked, his voice so quiet that Kurt had to strain to hear it.  Kurt smiled and nodded, standing on the tips of his toes and reaching his arms up to pull Finn into a deep kiss.  Finn’s hands settled around his waist and helped hold him, their grip tightening for a moment before loosening as Finn eased him back down. 

“What are we going to do about Burt and my Mom?” Finn asked when he’d caught his breath.  Kurt frowned, quickly assessing what his father’s reaction would likely be, then blanched.

“Not tell them until we have to?” he offered, hoping the suggestion wouldn’t offend Finn.  Judging by the relief on his step-brother’s face, it was exactly what Finn had wanted to hear.  Kurt stole another kiss, then took Finn by the wrist and started leading him downstairs.  He didn’t get more than a few steps out of his room before Finn was pulling away, making an apologetic face as he turned towards the bathroom.  Kurt chuckled and nodded his understanding before continuing on alone.


	17. Chapter 16

Finn loved his mom, but she didn’t exactly deal with change well, especially when it came to her son, who she had raised on her own from such a young age.  She had taken almost six months to accept that he actually had relationships with men, which was longer than the relationship he had finally told her about had lasted.  He didn’t want to lie to her, but he also didn’t want to have to explain the whole ‘sleeping with Puck and Kurt’ thing any earlier than he had to.  Some part of him worried that he’d put his mom through all that stress just to end up having to tell her that it hadn’t ended up being much of anything in the end.  That thought ate him up inside every time it crossed his mind.

He spent most of the weekend trying to enjoy his time with both Puck and Kurt and push his worries to the back of his mind, but he knew he wasn’t doing a very good job when Kurt kept casting worried glances his way.  Even when he got his wish and was bent over with Kurt moving inside him, his mind kept worrying at the thought that it was all temporary, leaving him somewhat unresponsive.

“OK, what the fuck is going on, Finn?” Kurt asked, pulling out despite Finn’s whine and urging him to flip over.  Finn fought it for a moment, but eventually gave in, turning over but studiously avoiding both Kurt’s eyes and Puck’s.  Puck had been gently stroking him while Kurt fucked him, but had let go when Kurt had started speaking  and was now looking too closely and with too much interest at Finn.  Finn who really just wanted to crawl into a hole and avoid the conversation that he knew was coming.

“You’ve been off in your own world all weekend,” Kurt continued, seemingly willing to ignore the fact that Finn was still avoiding looking at him.  “I wouldn’t normally mind but you’ve also been pretty obviously upset, especially when you’re spending time with us.”  He gestured between himself and Puck, the movement a flicker in the corner of Finn’s eye.

“He’s right, dude,” Puck added, the suddenness of his speaking up enough to draw Finn’s gaze for a moment.  “I’m getting the impression that you’re upset with us or not happy with the way things are going, which you should totally be talking to us about, not mentally sulking or whatever it is you’re doing.”  Kurt hummed an agreement, shifting to the side to lean against Puck, who wrapped his arm around the leaner man’s chest reassuringly.  Finn gave up the battle to avoid their eyes, looking up longingly at the two of them cuddled together.

“I’m just wondering how long this is all going to last,” he finally said, trying to hide his fears and hurt behind a smile.  Kurt’s sigh told him that he hadn’t succeeded and he had all of a second to brace himself before he had Kurt crawling over him, hugging him while simultaneously curling up in his lap.

“Finn...” Kurt whispered, sounding broken hearted.  “Why are you worrying about that now, when we’ve got so much time ahead of us?”  Puck scoffed, drawing the attention of both men.

“‘Cause the last few guys he fucked weren’t exactly dependable,” Puck said with scorn.  When Finn opened his mouth to protest, Puck shot him a harsh look that softened almost instantly.

 “Dude, they both dumped you for the first guy they met that _they_ thought was hotter than you.  They were dicks, end of story.  I, for one, am not like that - at least not any more.”  Finn blushed and ducked his head to hide his face in Kurt’s hair, a plan foiled by Kurt when he pulled back to look up at Finn.

“I won’t do that to you, Finn,” he promised and, with a quick look to Puck, added, “ _we_ won’t do that.  I can’t promise forever but I can promise that I will do what I can to make this work and only if I can’t will I leave you.”  Puck nodded solemnly, crawling over to sit next to Finn and hold his hand.  Finn squeezed his thanks, holding Kurt a little tighter as well, then he sighed and relaxed, letting go of his fears as much as he could.  He knew words didn’t really change how things were or would be, but it was hard for him not to take the reassurances to heart so he let them cheer him up.

“Now, I believe we were up to something far more enjoyable than worrying,” Puck said wickedly, running one of his hands down Kurt’s spine.  “And this time, I’d like to join in.”  Kurt purred and arched his back off of Finn, his eyelids dropping and a fire kindling in his eyes almost instantly.  Puck smirked at Finn, then positioned himself behind Kurt, one hand groping for the lube.  Finn smiled, back, the expression one of both thanks and invitation, then gave himself over to his two lovers.

Afterwards, they laid wrapped around each other, legs tangled and hands touching something constantly.  Finn would have worried about being overly clingy with his need to hold onto either Kurt or Puck (or, ideally, both) if it weren’t for the fact that both of them were doing it too, their gentle brushes and soft kisses as much a request for reassurance as anything Finn did.  He buried his face in Kurt’s hair, feeling the huff of Puck’s breath against his forehead, and fell asleep like that, feeling safe and completely content for the first time that weekend.

Puck woke him the next morning, muttering about hating Mondays and wishing he’d never started his own business.  Finn silenced him with a kiss, still feeling exuberant and yet calm at the same time, and gestured to Kurt, who was stirring anyway.  Kurt blinked up at the two of them owlishly, then his face broke into a wide grin that had Finn weak in the knees and Puck leaning back over the bed to kiss the smile off Kurt’s face, even if it was only for a moment.

Kurt followed the two of them out of Puck’s room, heading downstairs while Finn went into his room and Puck into the hall bathroom.  Finn quickly showered, shaved and pulled on work-appropriate clothing, grateful that in his line of work, that meant a nice polo and a dark pair of jeans.  It was about the right time for a complicated motor case to come his way anyway, so he threw an extra outfit into his bag, just in case.

When Finn thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen, he found Kurt sliding freshly made pancakes onto two plates, humming happily and dancing around the kitchen in nothing but an apron.  Finn stopped dead in the doorway, fighting between the instinct to press Kurt up against the counter and the sensible side of himself that reminded him that he did have to go to work, no matter what he’d rather be doing - or whom.  His indecision was resolved when Puck stepped up beside him, took one look at Kurt, and began to smirk.

“Why hello there,” Puck purred, coming up to Kurt in two long strides and catching the smaller man around the waist.  Another couple of strides had Kurt pressed up to the counter in the way Finn had imagined.  He stepped fully into the kitchen, coming around Puck’s side to press himself along both Puck and Kurt, feeling their twin heats along his front.

“Teasing us when you know we’ve got to go to work isn’t very nice,” Puck scolded, pressing kisses along one side of Kurt’s neck while Finn attacked the other.  Kurt made a very undignified ‘meep’ing sound, but otherwise stood still, his head tilted back to give Puck and Finn full access.  When they pulled away, he brought his head back down, his face bright red.

“I... I just wanted to give you something to think about... to come home to.”  It was the closest Finn had come to hearing Kurt outright admit to weakness in a long time, but he could hear the honest concern nonetheless.

“You on your own, without any bells and whistles, is worth coming home to,” Finn said honestly.

“You’re worth bringing into our home and shaking up our whole world,” Puck added, his expression the soft one that Finn had seen only rarely before the past weekend.  Kurt blinked up at both of them, then stretched up on the tips of his toes to give Finn a kiss before dropping back down to kiss Puck as well.

“Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, boys,” he said teasingly, sliding out from between Puck and the counter and passing them each a plate before heading back to the griddle and pouring out a perfect circle of batter.  Finn forced his eyes away from the enticing sight of Kurt’s ass perfectly framed by the apron - was that even theirs?  He didn’t remember buying it - and he took his plate to the table, which already had the syrup, whipped cream and chocolate sauce on it.

“Are you trying to rack up good boyfriend points?” Finn called back into the kitchen, happily covering his pancakes in sugary goodness.  Kurt peeked his head out around the wall just in time for Finn to smile at him.  “If so, mission accomplished.”  Kurt blushed and stepped out of the kitchen fully, coming over to stand near the table.

“Is that what we are, then?” he asked, playing with the hem of the apron, apparently unaware of the way it showed and hid tantalizing bits of his upper thighs.  Finn forced himself to look up at Kurt’s face, and he smiled reassuringly.

“Unless you have a better name for what we are?”  Kurt shook his head, redness still suffusing his face.

“No, boyfriend is fine if that’s OK with you.”  Finn shrugged eloquently, not really caring what they called their relationship as long as it existed.  Kurt looked over at Puck enquiringly.

“How do you feel about it?” he asked softly, and Finn saw the corners of Puck’s eyes tighten slightly before they softened completely.

“You can call me anything as long as it’s not bad in bed,” Puck joked, then took Kurt’s hand, pulling the smaller man gently into his lap.  “Whatever you two want is fine with me, honestly,” he said.  “I’m just happy to be here and be a part of this.”  Finn was once again struck by the kind of honest need that he hadn’t seen Puck express in far too long.  He reached out and took Puck’s free hand, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

“We’ll make this work, all three of us,” Finn said, feeling the truth of the statement deep in his bones.

  



	18. Epilogue

Finn stood beside Artie, grinning around indiscriminately as he watched his friend pledge his love to the woman he would be with for the rest of his life.  Next to him, Puck sniffed as quietly as possible, blinking back the tears that he probably didn’t want the rest of the wedding party to see.  Kurt took one step closer, lacing his fingers with Puck’s behind their backs, his face outwardly calm.  Finn waited until he caught Kurt’s eye and then winked quickly before turning his face back to the minster, who was pronouncing Artie and Susan husband and wife and congratulating them.  Finn contained his whoop of joy, but still clapped as hard as he could, knowing that he was beaming like an idiot.

The commercial that Artie and Kurt had produced had been so successful that Puck had commissioned two more, targeted at different areas and populations within L.A.  He’d paid Artie more than enough to cover even the lavish wedding they were currently at, and Kurt had ended up with enough of a nest egg to keep him living in L.A. for at least a year while he pursued movie roles.  He’d already been called back to read for two small roles, and was looking happier than Finn had seen him in a long time.

Some of that might be to do with how well the three of them were working together.  There had been some initial awkwardness, even after that first weekend, mostly centered around the fact that they’d all had to substantially shift how they related to one another, but they’d finally come to the conclusion that being happy was what mattered and seeing as none of them were actually related and they weren’t exactly planning on getting married, the oddness of being in a relationship could be put aside.  A few people had reacted badly upon first finding out, and they were still working out how to tell Burt and his mom, but they were confident that what they had was worth the fuss.

“They look so happy,” Kurt whispered as Artie’s brother proceeded down the aisle with Susan’s best friend.  Finn nodded, smiling broadly at Artie’s sister as he held out his arm to her.  Puck and Kurt followed him, each escorting one of Susan’s friends.  They’d all been surprised when Artie had asked them to be groomsmen, but had each accepted happily.  Artie had been one of the first people they’d told about their relationship and although he’d been confused at first, he’d also accepted it relatively quickly, not even commenting when Finn and Puck would stop by the set of the commercial and spend time with Kurt.

Finn was grateful that being a groomsman meant that he could sit up at the head table and avoid Rachel for the most part.  She’d seemed hurt that he’d all-but avoided her during the break between the wedding and the reception, despite the fact that she’d been hanging off Jesse and had a gleaming diamond on her ring finger.  Luckily, he’d run into Mike and Tina just before Rachel caught up to him and used escorting them to their table as an excuse to only say hello politely.  He’d been happy to catch up with the beaming couple, who were quite willing to chat about Mike’s work as a back-up dancer and Tina’s newly opened boutique, selling some of her own designs as well as exclusive lines by some of her fashion school friends.  He’d excused himself once Rachel was well and truly gone, hurrying to make the wedding party photos.

Kurt squeezed his arm, bringing him back to the present and the best man’s toast, which was just wrapping up.  Once they’d all taken a sip, Finn stood up, accepting the microphone from Artie’s brother.

“Puck, Kurt and I have all known Artie since high school.  We weren’t all friends at first, but three years in glee club built the kind of relationships that have lasted seven years and even thousands of miles of distance.  Artie has supported us, helped us improve our careers and business, and even granted us the opportunity to find what truly matters to us.  Today, we are happy to see him find what truly matters to _him_ , the love of his new wife.  Congratulations, you two!”  He raised his glass and Puck and Kurt stood, raising theirs as well before all three of them took a sip.  Artie smiled at them and nodded, and Finn sat, feeling a rush of relief that his major duties were now over.

“You were amazing,” Kurt whispered in his ear, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.  Puck reached around behind Kurt, laying his hand on Finn’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.  Finn smiled at them gratefully before turning his attention back to the speech now being given by Susan’s sister.  He sighed contentedly as he felt Puck’s hand drop to the back of his chair and Kurt’s land on his knee.  Later, he would have to dance and try not to crush his partners’ feet, but for now he was happy just to sit next to the two men he loved and watch Artie and Susan smile at each other like they were oblivious to the rest of the world.


	19. Fanmix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fantastic fanmix was made by [raving_liberal](http://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal) and [patchfire](http://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire).

1) Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

2) Not Like in the Movies - Katy Perry

3) California - Phantom Planet

4) Relax, Take it Easy - Mika

5) Front Row - Metric

6) England - The National

7) Not Myself - John Mayer

8) Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty

9) Technicolor Eyes - Backseat Goodbye

10) A Sail - Lisa Hannigan

[Download Link](http://minus.com/l10IjUAUjvVX)


End file.
